Abacus FCF Advisors LLC Purchases 5,824 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 52.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,838 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,824 shares during the quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $2,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CLX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at $259,041,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 75.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,361,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,163,000 after buying an additional 585,526 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 187.9% in the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 698,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,508,000 after acquiring an additional 456,114 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Clorox by 42.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,032,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,816,000 after purchasing an additional 308,234 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Clorox by 302.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 353,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,390,000 after purchasing an additional 265,455 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Clorox Trading Down 3.6 %

NYSE:CLX opened at $138.62 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.20. The company has a market cap of $17.08 billion, a PE ratio of 37.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The Clorox Company has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be given a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Clorox’s payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Clorox from $161.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Clorox has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $159.00.

Clorox 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.