The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 151,257 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,720 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Clorox worth $24,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CLX. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased 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 worth $733,095,000 after purchasing an additional 4,490,421 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Clorox by 1,715.5% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,461,207 shares of the company's stock worth $199,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380,724 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 150.6% in the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,597,674 shares of the company's stock valued at $218,035,000 after purchasing an additional 960,094 shares during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 512.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 542,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,315,000 after buying an additional 453,624 shares during the period. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in shares of Clorox by 13,547.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 440,116 shares of the company's stock worth $60,063,000 after buying an additional 436,891 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on CLX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $155.38.

Clorox Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of CLX stock traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $163.97. 601,119 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,233,796. The company has a market capitalization of $20.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $164.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.00. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 170.03%.

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.