Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. Buys New Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $461,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Clorox by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 565,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,893,000 after buying an additional 6,987 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Clorox by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 654,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,248,000 after buying an additional 80,189 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Clorox by 119.6% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Clorox by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Clorox by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 370,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,235,000 after buying an additional 121,979 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CLX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Clorox from $151.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on Clorox and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Clorox presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.23.

Clorox Stock Up 0.0%

Clorox stock opened at $130.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.60. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $139.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Clorox news, Director Pierre R. Breber purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $136.57 per share, for a total transaction of $546,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.