Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 207 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,576 shares of the company’s stock after selling 207 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $2,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Clorox during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Clorox during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Clorox during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its position in Clorox by 239.1% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 295 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on CLX shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $137.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on Clorox and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (down from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $129.00 to $119.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.36.

Clorox Stock Up 0.1%

CLX opened at $125.50 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $125.74 and a 200 day moving average of $138.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.15. The Clorox Company has a 12 month low of $117.35 and a 12 month high of $171.37. The company has a market cap of $15.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Clorox Increases Dividend

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

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.