Donald L. Hagan LLC Acquires New Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Donald L. Hagan LLC bought a new position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 10,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,539,000. Clorox makes up about 0.8% of Donald L. Hagan LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 384.0% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 64,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,206,000 after buying an additional 50,917 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in Clorox in the 3rd quarter worth $6,605,000. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC bought a new position in Clorox in the 4th quarter worth $2,940,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Clorox by 742.8% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 78,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,316,000 after acquiring an additional 69,373 shares during the period. Finally, Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in Clorox by 279.4% in the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 164,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,521,000 after acquiring an additional 120,926 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Clorox Price Performance

Clorox stock traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $153.11. 1,136,963 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,316,435. The company has a market cap of $19.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 243.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37. The Clorox Company has a twelve month low of $114.68 and a twelve month high of $178.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $150.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.02.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $1.08. Clorox had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 319.41%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. Clorox’s payout ratio is 761.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Clorox in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “sell” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $162.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Clorox from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $120.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.06.

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.