Vista Investment Partners II LLC Takes $205,000 Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Vista Investment Partners II LLC purchased a new position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Clorox by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,332,947,000 after purchasing an additional 245,525 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Clorox by 46,877.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $733,095,000 after buying an additional 4,490,421 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Clorox by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,028,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,713,000 after buying an additional 33,970 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Clorox by 1.7% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,334,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,370,000 after purchasing an additional 37,967 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Clorox by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,032,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,816,000 after purchasing an additional 308,234 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of CLX stock opened at $147.99 on Tuesday. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37. The stock has a market cap of $18.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.44. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s payout ratio is 133.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $159.62.

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.