Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Increases Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 80.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,372 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,949 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Clorox were worth $710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CLX. State Street Corp increased its position in Clorox by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company's stock worth $1,332,947,000 after buying an additional 245,525 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 46,877.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $733,095,000 after acquiring an additional 4,490,421 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Clorox by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,028,333 shares of the company's stock worth $491,713,000 after acquiring an additional 33,970 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Clorox by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,334,826 shares of the company's stock worth $380,370,000 after acquiring an additional 37,967 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Clorox by 2.2% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,492,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $237,372,000 after purchasing an additional 31,510 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Clorox Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE CLX traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $159.42. 543,470 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 915,108. The company has a market cap of $19.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.42. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $164.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. The Clorox Company has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Clorox's dividend payout ratio is presently 170.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CLX. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Clorox from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $157.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. DA Davidson increased their target price on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Clorox from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Clorox from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $156.54.

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.