Valley National Advisers Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 458.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 268 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $38,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Clorox in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. American National Bank raised its stake in Clorox by 2,466.7% in the third quarter. American National Bank now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Clorox in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, First Capital Advisors Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Clorox in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Clorox from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $120.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Clorox in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “sell” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.13.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of Clorox stock opened at $144.36 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 229.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.26. The Clorox Company has a 12 month low of $114.68 and a 12 month high of $178.21.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $1.08. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 319.41% and a net margin of 1.09%. Clorox’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 761.92%.

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.