Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX – Get Rating) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,896 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,579 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $21,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robinson Value Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Clorox by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 11,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,584,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital Group lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 2,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mayfair Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CLX. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Clorox from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. StockNews.com started coverage on Clorox in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Clorox from $148.00 to $162.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Citigroup started coverage on Clorox in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Clorox from $165.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.54.

Clorox Stock Performance

Clorox stock opened at $166.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 286.83, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.30. The Clorox Company has a twelve month low of $120.50 and a twelve month high of $178.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $161.43 and its 200 day moving average is $152.02.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 114.67% and a net margin of 1.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Profile

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The Clorox Co engages in the manufacture and marketing of consumer and professional products. It operates through the following business segments: Health and Wellness, Household, Lifestyle, and International. The Health and Wellness segment consists of cleaning products, professional products and vitamins, minerals and supplements mainly marketed and sold in the United States.