National Pension Service Sells 192,617 Shares of The Clorox Company $CLX

Key Points

• The National Pension Service significantly reduced its stake in The Clorox Company, selling 192,617 shares and now holding only 7,096 shares, which is a 96.4% decrease in its position.
• Clorox reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.87 for its most recent quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $2.24 and showing a 4.5% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company announced an increased quarterly dividend of $1.24, with an annualized yield of 4.1%, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

National Pension Service lowered its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 96.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,096 shares of the company's stock after selling 192,617 shares during the period. National Pension Service's holdings in Clorox were worth $1,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 273,639 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,286,000 after purchasing an additional 40,608 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Clorox by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 57,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,383,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Clorox by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 426,863 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,856,000 after purchasing an additional 31,418 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Clorox by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 16,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CCM Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Clorox during the first quarter worth $1,337,000. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Clorox Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of CLX traded up $1.3150 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $121.1550. The company's stock had a trading volume of 299,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,633,073. The company's 50-day moving average is $124.31 and its 200-day moving average is $135.57. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $117.35 and a 52-week high of $171.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.62, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.15.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 377.86% and a net margin of 11.40%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. Clorox has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.950-6.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This is a boost from Clorox's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Clorox's payout ratio is 76.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CLX. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on Clorox and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays decreased their target price on Clorox from $129.00 to $119.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $135.00 target price (down from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective 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, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Clorox from $150.00 to $137.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $143.36.

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.