C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. Boosts Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. raised its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 26.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,796 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CLX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Clorox by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,507,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,518,517,000 after acquiring an additional 124,428 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,332,947,000 after purchasing an additional 245,525 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Clorox by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,028,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,713,000 after purchasing an additional 33,970 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,334,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,370,000 after buying an additional 37,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $259,041,000. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Clorox Stock Performance

NYSE CLX opened at $146.18 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.94. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $151.34 and a 200-day moving average of $159.00.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Clorox’s payout ratio is 133.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on CLX. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays cut their target price on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $159.50.

Clorox Profile

The Clorox Company manufactures and markets consumer and professional products worldwide. It operates through four segments: Health and Wellness, Household, Lifestyle, and International. The Health and Wellness segment offers cleaning products, such as laundry additives and home care products primarily under the Clorox, Clorox2, Scentiva, Pine-Sol, Liquid-Plumr, Tilex, and Formula 409 brands; professional cleaning and disinfecting products under the CloroxPro and Clorox Healthcare brands; professional food service products under the Hidden Valley brand; and vitamins, minerals and supplement products under the RenewLife, Natural Vitality, NeoCell, and Rainbow Light brands in the United States.