Allstate Corp Buys Shares of 3,728 The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Allstate Corp purchased a new position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $605,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CLX. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Clorox by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 74,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,117,000 after buying an additional 1,787 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter worth about $259,041,000. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 9,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,506,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new stake in Clorox during the fourth quarter worth approximately $243,000. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Clorox during the fourth quarter worth approximately $649,000. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson cut their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.50.

Clorox Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CLX opened at $147.79 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $150.83 and its 200 day moving average is $158.74. The Clorox Company has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.37. The stock has a market cap of $18.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.38, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. 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 quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.33%.

About Clorox

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.