Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Trims Stock Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,045 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,069 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $1,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Clorox by 43.4% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,865,000 after acquiring an additional 9,037 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Clorox by 8.3% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 63,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,341,000 after buying an additional 4,839 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 723,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,932,000 after buying an additional 13,038 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 59,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,736,000 after purchasing an additional 12,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $159.62.

Clorox Trading Down 0.5 %

Clorox stock opened at $146.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $154.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.23. The Clorox Company has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $171.37. The stock has a market cap of $18.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be given a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

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.