Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $2.37 Million Stock Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. cut its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,624 shares of the company’s stock after selling 278 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $2,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CLX. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in Clorox by 75.9% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,130,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,161,000 after buying an additional 487,974 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $69,078,000 after purchasing an additional 481,725 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Clorox by 39.6% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,467,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,319,000 after purchasing an additional 415,999 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Clorox by 17.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,415,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,517,000 after purchasing an additional 357,964 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC lifted its stake in Clorox by 25.7% during the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,325,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,758,000 after purchasing an additional 271,133 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CLX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Clorox from $155.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $162.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $148.63.

Clorox Price Performance

CLX opened at $146.48 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $149.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.89. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $114.68 and a 52 week high of $178.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.18 billion, a PE ratio of 232.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is 761.92%.

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.