Empirical Finance LLC Grows Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,274 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Insight Folios Inc increased its holdings in Clorox by 3.0% during the third 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. Fiduciary Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 19,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,600,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Clorox by 2.2% in the second quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in Clorox by 17.2% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CLX shares. BNP Paribas raised Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen raised shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Clorox presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,719.92. The trade was a 11.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Clorox Price Performance

Clorox stock opened at $167.64 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.46. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $169.09. The stock has a market cap of $20.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.41, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. Clorox’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.