Federated Hermes Inc. Increases Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. increased its investment in The Clorox Company by 16.4%, owning approximately 0.28% of the company worth $50 million as of the end of the first quarter.
• Clorox reported earnings of $1.45 per share in its latest quarterly results, missing expectations and reflecting an 8% year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.24 per share, increasing from the previous $1.22, with an annualized yield of 3.93%.

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 16.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 339,801 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 47,751 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of Clorox worth $50,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 75.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 688.7% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 587,679 shares of the company's stock valued at $86,535,000 after buying an additional 513,171 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 549.8% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 542,726 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,144,000 after buying an additional 459,203 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 187.9% during the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 698,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,508,000 after buying an additional 456,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 154.6% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 570,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,655,000 after buying an additional 346,449 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CLX has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Clorox from $150.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on Clorox from $129.00 to $119.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $135.00 price target (down from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Clorox from $144.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Clorox from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $144.00.

Insider Transactions at Clorox

In related news, Director Pierre R. Breber acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $136.57 per share, for a total transaction of $546,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $546,280. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Clorox Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE CLX traded down $2.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $123.06. 3,928,421 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,666,065. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.07, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.74. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $117.35 and a 52 week high of $171.37. The company 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $126.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.14.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.63. Clorox had a return on equity of 538.72% and a net margin of 11.40%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

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

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.