Cetera Investment Advisers Increases Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in The Clorox Company by 49.5%, owning 84,738 shares valued at approximately $12,478,000 after purchasing 28,046 additional shares.
• Clorox reported a quarterly earnings miss with an EPS of $1.45, falling short of analysts' estimates of $1.57, and its revenue declined by 8.0% compared to the previous year.
• Several hedge funds have adjusted their positions in Clorox, with institutional investors currently holding about 78.53% of the company's stock.

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 49.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,738 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 28,046 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers owned 0.07% of Clorox worth $12,478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CLX. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.5% in the first quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,940 shares of the company's stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 0.6% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 13,266 shares of the company's stock worth $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the company's stock worth $1,238,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 9,271 shares of the company's stock worth $1,506,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Avengers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. now owns 457 shares of the company's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Pierre R. Breber acquired 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $136.57 per share, for a total transaction of $546,280.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,280. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CLX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Clorox from $150.00 to $137.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $135.00 target price (down from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group cut their target price on Clorox from $150.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Clorox from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $144.00.

Clorox Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of CLX stock traded down $2.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $123.06. 3,928,421 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,666,065. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $126.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.39. The Clorox Company has a 12-month low of $117.35 and a 12-month high of $171.37. The stock has a market cap of $15.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.07.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.63. Clorox had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 538.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This is an increase from Clorox's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.61%.

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.