Certuity LLC Makes New $442,000 Investment in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Certuity LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 3,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $442,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in shares of Clorox by 75.9% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,130,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,161,000 after buying an additional 487,974 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 481,725 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 39.6% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,467,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,319,000 after purchasing an additional 415,999 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 17.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,415,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,517,000 after purchasing an additional 357,964 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 25.7% in the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,325,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,758,000 after purchasing an additional 271,133 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Clorox from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Clorox from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays lowered their target price on Clorox from $148.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Clorox from $155.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $148.63.

Clorox Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of CLX opened at $147.81 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37. The firm has a market cap of $18.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 234.62, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $149.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.12. The Clorox Company has a 12 month low of $114.68 and a 12 month high of $178.21.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 319.41%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. Analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is presently 761.92%.

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.