Stifel Financial Corp Purchases 37,967 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,334,826 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,967 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Clorox were worth $380,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 46,877.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,095,000 after buying an additional 4,490,421 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 150.6% in the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,597,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,035,000 after buying an additional 960,094 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,492,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,372,000 after buying an additional 31,510 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Clorox by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 961,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,200,000 after acquiring an additional 120,716 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Clorox by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 802,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,483,000 after acquiring an additional 85,529 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLX opened at $167.52 on Thursday. The Clorox Company has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $171.35. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $163.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $150.02. The company has a market capitalization of $20.74 billion, a PE ratio of 58.37, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.42.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. Clorox’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. Clorox’s payout ratio is 170.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $286,846.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CLX shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BNP Paribas upgraded Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen raised Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Clorox presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.00.

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.