Empirical Finance LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,274 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CLX. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Clorox in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 139.8% in the second quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors bought a new stake in Clorox during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Clorox during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in Clorox by 99.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 229 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CLX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Clorox presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. This represents a 11.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE CLX opened at $167.64 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $20.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The Clorox Company has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $169.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $162.45 and a 200 day moving average of $147.46.

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

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 170.04%.

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.