Swedbank AB Has $24.01 Million Stock Position in The Clorox Company $CLX

Key Points

• Swedbank AB significantly increased its stake in The Clorox Company by 232.9% in Q1, holding 163,084 shares worth approximately $24 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including HSBC and KBC Group, have also increased their holdings in Clorox, indicating a growing interest in the company.
• The Clorox Company reported a 4.5% revenue increase year-over-year for its last quarter, achieving earnings per share of $2.87, which exceeded analysts' expectations.

Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 232.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 163,084 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 114,100 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.13% of Clorox worth $24,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CLX. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 118.8% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,085,661 shares of the company's stock worth $159,699,000 after purchasing an additional 589,544 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 688.7% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 587,679 shares of the company's stock worth $86,535,000 after purchasing an additional 513,171 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 412.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 598,758 shares of the company's stock worth $88,167,000 after buying an additional 481,846 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 147.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 707,005 shares of the company's stock worth $104,107,000 after buying an additional 421,453 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 11,108.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 349,130 shares of the company's stock worth $51,409,000 after buying an additional 346,015 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $135.00 price objective (down from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $137.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $129.00 to $119.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $142.18.

Insider Activity at Clorox

In other news, COO Eric H. Reynolds sold 15,041 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.78, for a total transaction of $1,861,774.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 54,221 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,711,475.38. This trade represents a 21.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLX traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $125.13. 458,428 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,657,582. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $124.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.30 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.52. The Clorox Company has a 12 month low of $116.53 and a 12 month 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. Clorox has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.950-6.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 22nd. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.07%.

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.