Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,240 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 426 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $2,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Clorox during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 139.8% in the second quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Clorox in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in Clorox by 99.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 229 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on CLX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen raised Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.00.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of CLX stock opened at $167.16 on Thursday. The Clorox Company has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $20.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.24, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $162.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.01.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is presently 170.04%.

Insider Transactions at Clorox

In other Clorox news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,229,719.92. This represents a 11.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

About Clorox

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.