The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Shares Sold by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,624 shares of the company’s stock after selling 278 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $2,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Clorox by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,341,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,010,622,000 after acquiring an additional 44,344 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,415,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,517,000 after buying an additional 357,964 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,184,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,356,000 after buying an additional 47,879 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,738,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,904,000 after buying an additional 30,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,633,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,103,000 after buying an additional 42,352 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on Clorox from $148.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Clorox from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Clorox from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.63.

Clorox Price Performance

CLX stock opened at $146.48 on Friday. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $114.68 and a 52-week high of $178.21. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 232.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s payout ratio is currently 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.