RTTNews | Jan 29, 2021 07:38AM EST

07:38 Friday, January 29, 2021 (RTTNews.com) - While reporting its financial results for the fourth quarter on Friday, Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (CHD) on Friday forecast its financial results for the first quarter below analysts estimates. In addition, the company's board declared a 5.2 percent increase in the regular quarterly dividend.

For the first quarter, Church & Dwight forecast reported sales growth of about 3.0 percent, organic sales growth of about 2.0 percent, gross margin contraction as it laps artificially low promotional levels, and adjusted earnings of $0.80 per share, a 4 percent decrease from the year-ago period.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $0.86 per share for the quarter on revenue growth of 5.7 percent to $1.23 billion. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

For fiscal 2021, the company projects adjusted earnings of $3.00 to $3.06 per share, reported sales growth of about 4.5 percent, and organic sales of about 3 percent. The Street expects earnings of $3.05 per share for the year on revenue growth of 5.2 percent to $5.11 billion.

The company's board of directors declared a 5.2 percent increase in the regular quarterly dividend from $0.24 per share to $0.2525 per share, equivalent to an annual dividend of $1.01 per share. The quarterly dividend will be payable March 1, 2021 to stockholders of record at the close of business on February 16, 2021.

In addition, as part of the Evergreen Share Repurchase Program, Church & Dwight entered into an accelerated share repurchase contract with a commercial bank in December 2020 to purchase $300 million of the company's common stock. Church & Dwight paid $300 million to the bank, inclusive of fees, and received an initial delivery of about 3.1 million shares, which reduced its shares outstanding. The company used cash on hand and short-term borrowings to fund the initial purchase price.

Church & Dwight noted that the total amount of shares to be ultimately delivered by the bank will be determined by the average price per share paid by the bank during the purchase period, which is expected to end during the first quarter of 2021.

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