Citigroup Inc. Reduces Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Citigroup Inc. reduced its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 23.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 145,280 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,860 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $23,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Clorox in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Clorox in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Clorox by 139.8% in the second quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Clorox during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Clorox by 99.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Clorox Stock Up 0.6 %

CLX stock opened at $167.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.71 billion, a PE ratio of 58.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.88. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. Clorox’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Clorox’s payout ratio is 170.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. BNP Paribas raised Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Clorox currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,719.92. This trade represents a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

About Clorox

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.