CCM Investment Group LLC Purchases New Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Key Points

• CCM Investment Group LLC invested $1.34 million in The Clorox Company, acquiring over 9,100 shares in the first quarter of 2023.
• The Clorox Company plans to increase its quarterly dividend to $1.24 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 4.0%.
• Research analysts have lowered target prices for Clorox stock, with the average target now at $143.36 and a general rating of "Hold" from analysts.

CCM Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,337,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Clorox by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,573,076 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,293,135,000 after acquiring an additional 65,924 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Clorox by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,344,408 shares of the company's stock valued at $380,761,000 after purchasing an additional 9,582 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Clorox by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,494,265 shares of the company's stock valued at $242,684,000 after purchasing an additional 230,173 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Clorox by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,421,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,932,000 after purchasing an additional 316,688 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 585,526 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CLX shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Clorox from $150.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Clorox from $150.00 to $137.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Clorox from $144.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Clorox from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Clorox currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.36.

Clorox Price Performance

NYSE CLX traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $122.78. 1,881,872 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,642,055. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.28. The Clorox Company has a 1 year low of $117.35 and a 1 year high of $171.37. 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 company has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.49.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last released 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. Clorox had a return on equity of 377.86% and a net margin of 11.40%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This is an increase from Clorox's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.07%.

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.