ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $312,000 Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,918 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kelly Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at about $325,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at about $242,000. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Clorox by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in Clorox by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Somerset Trust Co increased its stake in Clorox by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 14,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,308,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:CLX opened at $160.03 on Wednesday. The Clorox Company has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. The stock has a market cap of $19.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.76, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $164.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.91.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 3.05%. Clorox’s payout ratio is 170.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CLX. TD Cowen raised shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com lowered Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Clorox from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $157.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on Clorox from $139.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Four equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.54.

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.