Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Takes Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,507,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,518,517,000 after acquiring an additional 124,428 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,098,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,925,000 after acquiring an additional 69,969 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,344,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,761,000 after acquiring an additional 9,582 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at $259,041,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,494,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,684,000 after acquiring an additional 230,173 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Pierre R. Breber purchased 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $136.57 per share, with a total value of $546,280.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,280. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CLX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $134.00 to $129.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $151.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Clorox and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.23.

Clorox Stock Performance

CLX stock opened at $134.81 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.83, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.60. The Clorox Company has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $140.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.09.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s payout ratio is currently 87.61%.

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.