Intech Investment Management LLC Has $8.84 Million Stock Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 91.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,428 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 26,058 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $8,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $940,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Clorox by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,815,000 after buying an additional 5,938 shares during the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after buying an additional 2,657 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Clorox by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,324,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the fourth quarter valued at $97,000. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $159.62.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of CLX opened at $144.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.83 billion, a PE ratio of 39.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.08. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 earned $2.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.33%.

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.