OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Purchases Shares of 2,506 The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Key Points

• Oversea Chinese Banking Corp Ltd has purchased a new stake in The Clorox Company, acquiring 2,506 shares valued at approximately $369,000 in the 1st quarter.
• Analyst ratings on Clorox have varied, with Wells Fargo increasing their price target to $138.00, while Barclays lowered theirs to $119.00, reflecting differing outlooks on the company's stock.
• The Clorox Company reported financial growth, with a 4.5% year-over-year increase in revenue, and will increase its quarterly dividend from $1.22 to $1.24 per share.

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $369,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC increased its position in Clorox by 2.5% during the first quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,940 shares of the company's stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.6% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 13,266 shares of the company's stock worth $1,953,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Clorox by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,238,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. now owns 457 shares of the company's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABLE Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 3,502 shares of the company's stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Clorox Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:CLX traded down $1.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $124.94. 916,340 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,634,686. 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 has a market capitalization of $15.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $125.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $138.19.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 377.86%. Clorox's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This is a positive change from Clorox's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Clorox's payout ratio is presently 74.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on CLX shares. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on Clorox and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $135.00 target price (down previously from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $144.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Clorox from $150.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Three 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Clorox presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.