GAMMA Investing LLC Makes New Investment in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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 last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Clorox by 17.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,415,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,517,000 after buying an additional 357,964 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Clorox by 2.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,184,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,356,000 after buying an additional 47,879 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Clorox by 1.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,738,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,904,000 after buying an additional 30,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Clorox by 2.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,633,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,103,000 after buying an additional 42,352 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE CLX opened at $146.48 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.60. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $114.68 and a fifty-two week high of $178.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 232.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $1.08. Clorox had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 319.41%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Clorox’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 761.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CLX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $162.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Clorox from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Clorox from $155.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Clorox currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.63.

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.