Securian Asset Management Inc. Trims Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,525 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $1,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new position in Clorox in the 3rd quarter worth about $234,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Clorox by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 307,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,119,000 after acquiring an additional 6,008 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Clorox by 45.0% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 323,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,720,000 after acquiring an additional 100,453 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Clorox by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Clorox by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 17,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,820,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CLX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Clorox has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $159.62.

Clorox Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:CLX opened at $147.32 on Friday. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $154.20 and a 200 day moving average of $160.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.25, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

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.