Commerce Bank Has $4.45 Million Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Commerce Bank increased its holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 13.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,245 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,600 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Clorox were worth $4,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CLX. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Clorox by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 8,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,372,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Clorox by 18.8% in the fourth 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. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Clorox by 76.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 250,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,683,000 after buying an additional 108,631 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Clorox by 39.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 188,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,635,000 after buying an additional 53,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors bought a new position in Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $324,000. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CLX shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $137.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $129.00 to $119.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clorox presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.36.

Clorox Stock Performance

NYSE CLX opened at $123.06 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $126.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.86. The stock has a market cap of $15.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.49. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $117.35 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.15, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 377.86%. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. This is a boost from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.85%.

Insider Activity at Clorox

In other Clorox news, Director Pierre R. Breber purchased 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director owned 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,280. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.