Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Lowers Stake in The Clorox Company $CLX

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in The Clorox Company by 41.2%, now owning approximately 0.26% of the company’s shares, valued at nearly $48 million.
• Clorox recently reported an EPS of $2.87 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, while also projecting a FY 2026 EPS guidance of $5.950-6.30.
• The company has announced an increased quarterly dividend of $1.24 per share, up from $1.22, resulting in an annualized yield of 4.2%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 41.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 325,944 shares of the company's stock after selling 228,744 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.26% of Clorox worth $47,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 239.1% during the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 295 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 140.7% during the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 361 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Clorox Stock Performance

NYSE CLX opened at $117.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.06, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.49. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $117.35 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.63. Clorox had a return on equity of 377.86% and a net margin of 11.40%.The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Clorox has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.950-6.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders 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 is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Clorox's payout ratio is 76.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on CLX. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on Clorox and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Clorox from $129.00 to $119.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Clorox from $150.00 to $137.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group reduced their target price on Clorox from $150.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Clorox from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Clorox presently 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.

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