Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Cuts Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Key Points

• Mizuho Markets Americas LLC has reduced its stake in The Clorox Company by 51.0%, holding 8,253 shares valued at approximately $1.2 million following the sale of 8,593 shares in the first quarter.
• Clorox recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.24 per share, representing an annualized yield of 4.0%, effective for shareholders of record as of August 13th.
• The company's stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with three selling, nine holding, and one buying, resulting in an average target price of approximately $143.36.

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 51.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,253 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,593 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC's holdings in Clorox were worth $1,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Clorox by 239.1% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 295 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc boosted its stake in Clorox by 140.7% in the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 361 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CLX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Clorox from $129.00 to $119.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on shares of Clorox and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $144.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Three equities research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Clorox currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $143.36.

Clorox Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE CLX opened at $124.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $125.51 and a 200 day moving average of $137.80. 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.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 377.86%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

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