Flputnam Investment Management Co. Increases Position in The Clorox Company $CLX

Key Points

• Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its investment in The Clorox Company by 32.9%, acquiring an additional 3,003 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 12,132 shares valued at approximately $1.79 million.
• Clorox's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $2.87, exceeding expectations and marking a 4.5% year-over-year revenue increase to $1.99 billion.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $1.24 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 4.2%, reflecting its ongoing commitment to shareholder returns.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 32.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,132 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,003 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Clorox were worth $1,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clorox during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 239.1% during the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 295 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 140.7% during the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 361 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clorox during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CLX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Clorox from $144.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Clorox from $150.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Clorox from $138.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Clorox from $150.00 to $137.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $142.64.

Clorox Price Performance

CLX stock traded up $2.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $127.08. The stock had a trading volume of 3,231,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,756,627. 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's 50-day moving average price is $124.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.47. The Clorox Company has a twelve month low of $116.53 and a twelve month high of $171.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.49, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Clorox Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 3.9%. Clorox's dividend payout ratio 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.