Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Acquires New Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $940,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Clorox by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,815,000 after acquiring an additional 5,938 shares during the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Clorox by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,793,000 after buying an additional 2,657 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,324,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clorox in the fourth quarter worth about $97,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Clorox by 305.5% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 15,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,598,000 after purchasing an additional 12,053 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CLX. StockNews.com lowered shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.62.

Clorox Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Clorox stock opened at $145.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.74, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. 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 Clorox Company has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $171.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $153.10 and its 200 day moving average is $159.87.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $2.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 133.33%.

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.