Range Financial Group LLC Grows Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Range Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 223.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,972 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,433 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Insight Folios Inc increased its holdings in Clorox by 3.0% during the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 0.4% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 19,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,600,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Clorox by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Clorox by 2.2% during the second quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of Clorox by 17.2% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CLX shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Clorox from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $157.00 in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. 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 research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.46.

Clorox Stock Performance

CLX traded up $2.17 on Tuesday, reaching $159.76. 1,229,907 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,090,074. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $164.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.17. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $19.78 billion, a PE ratio of 55.67, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is presently 170.03%.

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.