OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Purchases New Shares in 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 purchased a new stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $369,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Clorox by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,344,408 shares of the company's stock valued at $380,761,000 after buying an additional 9,582 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Clorox by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,494,265 shares of the company's stock valued at $242,684,000 after buying an additional 230,173 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Clorox by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,421,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,932,000 after buying an additional 316,688 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Clorox by 75.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,361,758 shares of the company's stock valued at $221,163,000 after buying an additional 585,526 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Clorox by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,115,772 shares of the company's stock valued at $181,213,000 after buying an additional 123,200 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $135.00 price target (down from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays lowered their price target 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Clorox currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $143.36.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CLX opened at $123.06 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $15.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.49. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $117.35 and a 52 week high of $171.37. The company's 50-day moving average price is $126.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.86. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.63. The firm 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%. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Clorox

In other news, Director Pierre R. Breber bought 4,000 shares of Clorox stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $136.57 per share, for a total transaction of $546,280.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,280. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

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.

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