Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,296 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,820 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $10,930,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 3.1% in 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Clorox by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,028,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,713,000 after buying an additional 33,970 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Clorox by 1.7% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,334,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,370,000 after buying an additional 37,967 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in Clorox by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,032,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,816,000 after buying an additional 308,234 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Clorox by 27.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 776,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,456,000 after acquiring an additional 168,111 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of CLX stock opened at $145.33 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $153.40 and its 200 day moving average is $159.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The firm has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.71, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CLX. StockNews.com cut shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Clorox has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.62.

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.