Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC Lowers Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,328 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,063 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 46,877.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,095,000 after buying an additional 4,490,421 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC lifted 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 worth $218,035,000 after acquiring an additional 960,094 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,492,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,372,000 after acquiring an additional 31,510 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 961,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,200,000 after purchasing an additional 120,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 802,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,483,000 after purchasing an additional 85,529 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. BNP Paribas raised Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Clorox currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.00.

Insider Transactions at Clorox

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $286,846.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,229,719.92. The trade was a 11.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Price Performance

CLX stock opened at $169.30 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The Clorox Company has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $162.78 and a 200 day moving average of $148.54. The company has a market cap of $20.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.99, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.41.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 170.04%.

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.