New England Research & Management Inc. Invests $216,000 in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

New England Research & Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CLX. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Clorox by 1,715.5% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,461,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,411,000 after buying an additional 1,380,724 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Clorox during the 4th quarter worth $144,844,000. Nuance Investments LLC increased its holdings in Clorox by 150.6% in the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,597,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,035,000 after purchasing an additional 960,094 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at about $128,245,000. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the first quarter worth about $135,630,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of CLX opened at $160.64 on Tuesday. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $114.68 and a 52 week high of $169.09. 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 market cap of $19.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.23, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $154.91 and a 200-day moving average of $144.39.

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

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 252.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on CLX. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Clorox from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Clorox currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clorox

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $286,846.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.