Ridgewood Investments LLC Trims Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Ridgewood Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 765 shares of the company’s stock after selling 133 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Clorox by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,332,947,000 after purchasing an additional 245,525 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Clorox by 46,877.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $733,095,000 after purchasing an additional 4,490,421 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,028,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,713,000 after acquiring an additional 33,970 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,334,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,370,000 after acquiring an additional 37,967 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 150.6% during the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,597,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,035,000 after acquiring an additional 960,094 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Stock Performance

CLX stock opened at $157.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.51 billion, a PE ratio of 54.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42. The Clorox Company has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.56.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The company’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Clorox’s payout ratio is 170.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on CLX. DA Davidson upped their target price on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Barclays upped their target price on Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.46.

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.