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Here's Why You Should Add Church & Dwight to Your Portfolio

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Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (CHD - Free Report) looks good in shape backed by its portfolio, strategic initiatives and solid fundamentals. This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) has a Growth Score of “A,” with a long-term earnings growth rate of 9.2%.

In fact, a glance at its share price movement shows that it has outpaced the Zacks categorized Consumer Staples sector on a year-to-date basis. The stock was up 18.3% compared with the sector’s gain of 11.6%.



Let’s Take a Close Look

Armed with a robust brand portfolio, Church & Dwight makes regular product innovations and is well-positioned in the consumer product categories. We believe that stable portfolio of value and premium products, tight management of overhead expenses along with robust sales and earnings growth to help propel the stock.

We note that Church & Dwight posted positive earnings surprise in 10 of the last 14 quarters, while sales beat consensus mark in 12 of the past 14 quarters. In the first quarter of 2017, the company delivered solid results driven by higher volumes and gross margin.

Moving ahead, management remains optimistic about performing well in the future on the back of its initiatives. Consequently, the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.93 and $2.08 for 2017 and 2018 has increased 1.6% and 2%, respectively, over the last 30 days.

Additionally, Church & Dwight’s international consumer business has been significantly contributing to organic sales growth of the company. Evidently, global consumer business delivered organic sales growth of 2.6% in the first quarter. Also, the company is making strategic acquisitions to enhance its sturdy portfolio. The recent acquisitions of Agro BioSciences, VIVISCAL business, and ANUSOL and RECTINOL brands are likely to boost the company’s overall performance.

However, unfavorable currency, pricing pressures, rising commodity costs and stiff competition remain major concerns for Church & Dwight. Going forward, management expects a competitive environment and currency to hurt earnings in 2017.

We believe the company to efficiently overcome these headwinds by its robust initiatives and will continue to deliver stellar results.

Stocks You May Consider

Some other favorably placed stocks worth considering in the broader Consumer Staples sector include Aramark (ARMK - Free Report) , Tupperware Brands Corp. (TUP - Free Report) and Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW - Free Report) carrying a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Aramark has posted an average beat of 4.5% in the last four quarters and has a long-term earnings growth rate of 12.8%.

Tupperware Brands has posted an average beat of 6.6% in the last four quarters and has a long-term earnings growth rate of 12%.

Lamb Weston, with a long-term earnings growth rate of 4.2% has surged 56% in the last one year.

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