Grove Bank & Trust Cuts Stock Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Grove Bank & Trust lowered its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 46.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 165 shares of the company’s stock after selling 144 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Clorox were worth $27,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Insight Folios Inc grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Clorox by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 6,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. lifted its position in Clorox by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in Clorox by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Clorox by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of Clorox stock opened at $160.31 on Tuesday. The Clorox Company has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $171.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $164.25 and its 200 day moving average is $156.71. The stock has a market cap of $19.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. Clorox’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Clorox’s payout ratio is presently 170.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Clorox from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $155.00 to $157.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Clorox from $139.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.54.

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.