Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Trims Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,667 shares of the company’s stock after selling 339 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Clorox were worth $597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CLX. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of Clorox by 15.2% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 141,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,705,000 after purchasing an additional 18,687 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 257.5% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,719,000 after acquiring an additional 8,087 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Clorox during the third quarter worth about $54,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Clorox by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 267,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,524,000 after buying an additional 66,149 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Clorox in the second quarter valued at $876,000. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $286,846.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. This represents a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Clorox Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of CLX opened at $169.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The Clorox Company has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $169.21. The stock has a market cap of $20.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.73.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. Clorox’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 170.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. DA Davidson raised their target price on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped their price target on Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clorox has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.00.

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.