Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires 202 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 30.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 871 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Clorox during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Clorox in the second quarter worth $30,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Clorox by 139.8% in the second quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Clorox during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, First Foundation Advisors bought a new position in Clorox in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CLX. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Clorox from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen began coverage on Clorox in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “sell” rating and a $122.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $153.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Clorox from $150.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Argus raised Clorox to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.50.

Clorox Price Performance

CLX stock opened at $163.33 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 52-week low of $114.68 and a 52-week high of $169.09. The company has a market capitalization of $20.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.63, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $149.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.73.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 281.12% and a net margin of 3.95%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is presently 252.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,719.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

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.