Slow Capital Inc. Increases Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Slow Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,597 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the quarter. Slow Capital Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $2,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CLX. Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Clorox in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Clorox by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 256 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Clorox from $148.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Clorox from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clorox presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.50.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CLX traded up $1.95 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $142.48. 1,053,248 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,126,813. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $150.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.68. The company has a market cap of $17.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 226.10, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.43. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $114.68 and a 52 week high of $178.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $1.08. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 319.41% and a net margin of 1.09%. Clorox’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s payout ratio is currently 761.92%.

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.