Howland Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Howland Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 11.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Clorox during the fourth quarter valued at $144,844,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at about $128,382,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at about $128,245,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the first quarter valued at about $135,630,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Clorox by 17,658.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 484,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,078,000 after buying an additional 481,725 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Clorox Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of CLX traded up $1.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $136.54. 46,142 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,239,051. The Clorox Company has a twelve month low of $114.68 and a twelve month high of $169.14. The stock has a market cap of $16.96 billion, a PE ratio of 69.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.73.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.38. Clorox had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 302.49%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CLX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Clorox from $164.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Clorox from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Clorox from $155.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Clorox to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.67.

Clorox Company 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.