Nuance Investments LLC Has $44.21 Million Stock Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Key Points

• Nuance Investments LLC has reduced its stake in The Clorox Company by 16.4%, now holding approximately 300,267 shares, which constitutes about 2.9% of its investment portfolio.
• Clorox has recently announced a dividend increase to $1.24 per share, which will be paid on August 29th, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 4.1%.
• Despite a recent earnings report showing better-than-expected results, several analysts have lowered their target prices for Clorox stock, indicating mixed sentiment in the market.

Nuance Investments LLC decreased its position 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 SEC. The fund owned 300,267 shares of the company's stock after selling 58,845 shares during the quarter. Clorox accounts for approximately 2.9% of Nuance Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Nuance Investments LLC owned approximately 0.24% of Clorox worth $44,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 1st quarter worth about $247,000. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 1st quarter worth about $399,000. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 1st quarter worth about $400,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 28,510 shares of the company's stock worth $4,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 25,582 shares of the company's stock worth $3,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,085 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CLX has been the subject of several research reports. 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 report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group dropped 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. dropped their target price 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. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on shares of Clorox and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $135.00 target price (down from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.36.

Clorox Trading Down 0.0%

Clorox stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $122.78. 1,881,872 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,885,361. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.15, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.84. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $117.35 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.49. The firm's 50 day moving average is $125.06 and its 200-day moving average is $137.18.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last released 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. Clorox had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 377.86%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. This is a positive change from Clorox's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Clorox's dividend payout ratio is 74.85%.

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.