Deutsche Bank Maintains Hold on Church & Dwight Ahead of Power Paks Release

Deutsche Bank has published a research report on Church & Dwight CHD after the company introduced its response to Tide Pods, the laundry "Power Paks". In the report, Deutsche Bank writes, "Church and Dwight has introduced its own laundry power paks their version of Tide Pods, according to the company's website and Mintel's Global New Products Database (GNPD). The new product is called Arm & Hammer Plus OxiClean Crystal Burst Power Pak and is currently exclusively available at selected Wal-Mart stores and is not available online. The company's website also features Arm & Hammer Toss 'N Done Power Paks (without OxiClean). As we discussed in our Procter & Gamble note on January 11, Tide Pods, slated for an already-delayed launch in mid February, will be on allocation from February 21 until sometime in the second half of calendar 2012 when merchandising and promotional plans will go into effect. With Church & Dwight now launching its competing product we believe it could gain market share at Tide's expense. While CHD has not launched the product with any fanfare yet, we expect the company to invest in A&P ahead of or during Tide Pods' initial launch." Deutsche Bank maintains its Hold rating and $40 price target on Church & Dwight, which is currently trading up $0.39 from Friday's $45.32 closing price.