Ritholtz Wealth Management Takes Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,275,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at about $412,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 952 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox during the first quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Montecito Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Clorox in the first quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE CLX opened at $162.61 on Friday. 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 one year low of $114.68 and a one year high of $169.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.19 billion, a PE ratio of 84.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.41.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 23rd. Clorox’s payout ratio is 252.85%.

Insider Activity

In other Clorox news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,229,719.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CLX. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Clorox from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “sell” rating and a $122.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.14.

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.