Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Grows Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,775 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,602 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $7,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Clorox during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 139.8% during the 2nd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Clorox in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, First Foundation Advisors purchased a new stake in Clorox in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on CLX. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on Clorox from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen started coverage on Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “sell” rating and a $122.00 price target on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $153.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.50.

Clorox Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of CLX opened at $163.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $149.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.78. The Clorox Company has a 12-month low of $114.68 and a 12-month high of $169.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.40.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.28. Clorox had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 281.12%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 252.85%.

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.