Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,449 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,139 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $1,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Clorox by 17,658.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 484,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,078,000 after purchasing an additional 481,725 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Clorox in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,605,000. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,940,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Clorox by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Clorox by 742.8% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 78,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,316,000 after buying an additional 69,373 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Clorox Stock Up 1.1 %

CLX opened at $145.19 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.09. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $114.68 and a 52 week high of $178.21. The stock has a market cap of $18.02 billion, a PE ratio of 230.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.43.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $1.08. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 319.41% and a net margin of 1.09%. Clorox’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 761.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on CLX. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Clorox from $148.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $162.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.63.

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.