Centre Asset Management LLC Trims Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Centre Asset Management LLC lowered its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,682 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,942 shares during the quarter. Clorox comprises about 2.4% of Centre Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Centre Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Clorox worth $10,667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CLX. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clorox during the 2nd quarter worth $52,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Clorox by 36.3% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 58,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,002,000 after buying an additional 15,620 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Clorox by 1.5% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 277,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,846,000 after acquiring an additional 3,992 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,458,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 30.3% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Clorox Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of CLX stock traded up $0.82 on Friday, reaching $162.65. 80,504 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 385,137. The company has a market capitalization of $20.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.67, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $164.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.62. 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 Clorox Company has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is presently 170.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CLX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen upgraded Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have 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 price target of $155.38.

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.