The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Shares Purchased by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 7.9% in Q1, now holding 426,863 shares valued at approximately $62.86 million.
• Clorox recently reported a quarterly EPS of $2.87, surpassing analyst expectations and marking a 4.5% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.24 per share, up from the previous $1.22, reflecting a 4.0% yield.

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 426,863 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 31,418 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.35% of Clorox worth $62,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Clorox by 688.7% in 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. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Clorox by 549.8% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 542,726 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,144,000 after purchasing an additional 459,203 shares during the period. Man Group plc boosted its stake in Clorox by 154.6% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 570,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,655,000 after purchasing an additional 346,449 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Clorox by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,421,909 shares of the company's stock worth $230,932,000 after buying an additional 316,688 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on CLX shares. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (down previously from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. 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. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on shares of Clorox and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. 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 note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.36.

Clorox Stock Up 0.5%

CLX stock traded up $0.59 on Friday, hitting $122.17. 1,204,790 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,871,838. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.15, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $124.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.64. The stock has a market cap of $14.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.49. The Clorox Company has a 12-month low of $117.35 and a 12-month high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 377.86% and a net margin of 11.40%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This is a positive change from Clorox's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Clorox's payout ratio is presently 76.07%.

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.