2,360 Shares in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Bought by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 2,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $322,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CLX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,277,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,339,150,000 after purchasing an additional 48,632 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Clorox by 1,715.5% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,461,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,411,000 after buying an additional 1,380,724 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Clorox during the 4th quarter worth approximately $144,844,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 961,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,200,000 after buying an additional 120,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $128,382,000. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Clorox Trading Up 0.7 %

Clorox stock opened at $158.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.03. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $114.68 and a fifty-two week high of $159.05. The stock has a market cap of $19.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.03, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $140.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.45.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 281.12% and a net margin of 3.95%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This is an increase from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. Clorox’s payout ratio is currently 252.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Clorox from $150.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Clorox in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “sell” rating and a $122.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Clorox from $162.00 to $153.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.19.

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.