Amundi Boosts Stock Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Amundi boosted its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 42.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,032,283 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 308,234 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.83% of Clorox worth $165,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the third quarter valued at $225,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Clorox by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,641,000 after purchasing an additional 9,720 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clorox in the 3rd quarter valued at about $449,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Clorox by 9.9% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the third quarter worth about $201,000. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLX opened at $151.11 on Monday. The Clorox Company has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $171.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.47. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $18.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.29, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. StockNews.com cut Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $159.62.

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.