Vision Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Vision Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clorox in the 3rd quarter worth $54,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 191,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,266,000 after purchasing an additional 10,149 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 43.4% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,865,000 after purchasing an additional 9,037 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 63,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,341,000 after purchasing an additional 4,839 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 723,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,932,000 after purchasing an additional 13,038 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CLX shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Clorox presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $158.21.

Clorox Stock Down 1.5 %

CLX stock opened at $145.98 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $158.76. The company has a market capitalization of $18.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.42. 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 Clorox Company has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 170.04%.

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.