ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,281 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Clorox by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 46,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,544,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Clorox by 223.1% in the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 4,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $808,000 after buying an additional 3,433 shares during the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in Clorox by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 9,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after buying an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its stake in Clorox by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Clorox by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Clorox Stock Down 1.9 %

Clorox stock opened at $157.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $164.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.56. The firm has a market cap of $19.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Clorox Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CLX shares. StockNews.com cut Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, TD Cowen raised Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Four 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Clorox presently 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.