Mizuho Securities USA LLC Boosts Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 46.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,732 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,700 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $1,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1,862.9% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 5,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,768,000. Fiduciary Group LLC grew its position in Clorox by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 20,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,309,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 6,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,070,000 after acquiring an additional 3,952 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CLX. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clorox presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $159.62.

Clorox Stock Performance

NYSE:CLX opened at $143.75 on Tuesday. 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 Clorox Company has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.37. The stock has a market cap of $17.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.59.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

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.