O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Grows Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,448 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $1,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CLX. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $876,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in Clorox in the 3rd quarter valued at about $812,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its holdings in Clorox by 50.7% during the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Clorox by 3.2% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 8.8% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 60,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,867,000 after purchasing an additional 4,889 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on CLX shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.00.

Clorox Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of CLX stock opened at $143.76 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The firm has a market cap of $17.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $150.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.40. The Clorox Company has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

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.