United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Increases Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 20.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,449 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. bought a new stake in Clorox during the fourth quarter valued at about $325,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 10,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,705,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in Clorox by 62.9% in the 4th quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 3,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its stake in Clorox by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 35,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,737,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new position in Clorox during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $187,000. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Clorox from $173.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Clorox from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Clorox from $176.00 to $154.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.83.

Clorox Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of CLX opened at $139.60 on Monday. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $146.57 and its 200 day moving average is $156.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.20 billion, a PE ratio of 38.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.61.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.