Nuveen LLC Takes Position in The Clorox Company $CLX

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has made a new investment in The Clorox Company, acquiring 287,269 shares valued at approximately $42.30 million in the first quarter.
• Clorox has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.24 per share, representing a 4.1% yield, with the ex-dividend date set for August 13th.
• The company reported a net revenue increase of 4.5% year-over-year, with earnings per share surpassing analysts' expectations at $2.87 for the last quarter.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 287,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,300,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Clorox as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in Clorox in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,022,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Clorox in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,187,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Clorox by 7.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,361,710 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,512,000 after acquiring an additional 94,371 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Family Office LLC bought a new position in Clorox in the first quarter valued at approximately $714,000. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Clorox by 10.6% in the first quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,571 shares of the company's stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CLX. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $137.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Clorox from $129.00 to $119.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Clorox from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on shares of Clorox and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.36.

Clorox Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of Clorox stock traded down $2.63 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $119.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,100,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,849,115. The Clorox Company has a one year low of $117.35 and a one year high of $171.37. The company has a market capitalization of $14.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.49. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $124.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.15, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. On average, 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 announced 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 is an increase from Clorox's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Clorox's dividend 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.