Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Makes New Investment in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 12,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,794,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mengis Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Clorox by 224.2% during the 4th quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 4,550 shares in the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in Clorox by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 23,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,365,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Significant Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the 4th quarter worth about $826,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 100.2% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 56,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,048,000 after buying an additional 28,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 522.7% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 35,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,052,000 after buying an additional 29,740 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CLX shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Clorox from $155.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Clorox in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “sell” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $148.63.

Clorox Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of CLX opened at $147.79 on Thursday. The Clorox Company has a 12 month low of $114.68 and a 12 month high of $178.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $149.59 and its 200-day moving average is $142.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.34 billion, a PE ratio of 234.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $1.08. Clorox had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 319.41%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 761.92%.

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.