Caption Management LLC Invests $4.42 Million in The Clorox Company $CLX

Key Points

• Caption Management LLC acquired a new position in The Clorox Company, purchasing 30,000 shares valued at approximately $4.42 million during the first quarter.
• Clorox's stock recently received multiple downgraded price targets from analysts, with Citigroup rating it as neutral and Morgan Stanley lowering their target to $137.00.
• Clorox announced a dividend increase to $1.24 per share, yielding 4.2%, reflecting a consistent commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Caption Management LLC acquired a new position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,418,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 53.5% in the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 8,616 shares of the company's stock worth $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 3,004 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Clorox by 2.8% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,608 shares of the company's stock worth $3,624,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in Clorox by 28.9% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 3,623 shares of the company's stock worth $533,000 after acquiring an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Clorox in the first quarter worth about $7,899,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Clorox in the first quarter worth about $68,000. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Clorox Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of Clorox stock traded up $2.85 during trading on Friday, hitting $127.48. 1,056,082 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,659,339. The Clorox Company has a 12-month low of $116.53 and a 12-month high of $171.37. The stock has a market cap of $15.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.15, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $124.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.62.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 377.86%. Clorox's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. Clorox has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.950-6.30 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a $1.24 dividend. This is a boost from Clorox's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Clorox from $144.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Clorox from $129.00 to $119.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $135.00 price target (down from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $137.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $142.64.

About Clorox

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.