Level Four Advisory Services LLC Makes New $332,000 Investment in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $332,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Clorox by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in Clorox by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 16,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in Clorox by 276.6% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 9,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after acquiring an additional 6,844 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Clorox by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 683,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,073,000 after acquiring an additional 5,145 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in Clorox by 81.1% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 24,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,410,000 after acquiring an additional 10,981 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.98% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Price Performance

Clorox stock opened at $142.70 on Tuesday. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $124.58 and a 52-week high of $178.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 119.92, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.48. Clorox had a net margin of 2.02% and a return on equity of 163.56%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 9th were issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 8th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. This is a positive change from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 403.36%.

Insider Activity at Clorox

In related news, CFO Kevin B. Jacobsen sold 3,346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.82, for a total value of $538,103.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,734,883.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLX has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 8th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Clorox from $155.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Clorox from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Atlantic Securities upgraded shares of Clorox from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.38.

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.