The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Shares Acquired by Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.

Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. grew its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,705 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CLX. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 46,877.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $733,095,000 after buying an additional 4,490,421 shares in the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 512.7% in the third quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 542,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,315,000 after buying an additional 453,624 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 302.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 353,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,390,000 after buying an additional 265,455 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,332,947,000 after buying an additional 245,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 27.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 776,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,456,000 after buying an additional 168,111 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Clorox Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE CLX opened at $157.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $157.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.13. The Clorox Company has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Clorox’s payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $158.21.

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.