Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in The Clorox Company by 6.8%, owning 244,965 shares worth approximately $36 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• The company's quarterly earnings exceeded estimates, reporting $2.87 EPS compared to consensus estimates of $2.24, along with a 4.5% year-over-year revenue increase to $1.99 billion.
• Clorox announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.24 per share, yielding 4.0%, payable to stockholders on record as of August 13th.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,965 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,674 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.20% of Clorox worth $36,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in Clorox in the 1st quarter worth about $1,949,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position in shares of Clorox by 74.6% in the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 6,763 shares of the company's stock worth $996,000 after buying an additional 2,890 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Clorox by 5.0% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 686,837 shares of the company's stock worth $101,137,000 after purchasing an additional 32,639 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox during the first quarter worth about $265,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 752,986 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,877,000 after buying an additional 4,866 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $137.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $135.00 target price (down from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on Clorox and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Clorox from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.36.

Clorox Stock Performance

Clorox stock opened at $124.89 on Friday. 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 Clorox Company has a 12-month low of $117.35 and a 12-month high of $171.37. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $125.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.80. The company has a market capitalization of $15.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.49.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast 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 represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. This is a boost from Clorox's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Clorox's payout ratio is 76.07%.

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.

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