Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Clorox (NYSE:CLX)

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 3,363 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 32% compared to the average volume of 2,553 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kevin B. Jacobsen sold 3,346 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.82, for a total value of $538,103.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,734,883.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Clorox during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC purchased a new position in Clorox during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Clorox by 105.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 185 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Delta Asset Management LLC TN purchased a new position in Clorox during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. 77.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLX has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Clorox from $176.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday. Atlantic Securities raised Clorox from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Clorox from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Clorox from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.77.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLX traded down $2.68 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $140.02. 1,069,874 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,205,650. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Clorox has a 52-week low of $124.58 and a 52-week high of $178.21. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $155.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.93. The company has a market cap of $17.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.55, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.28.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.48. Clorox had a return on equity of 163.56% and a net margin of 2.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Clorox will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 9th were paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. This is a positive change from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 8th. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 403.36%.

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.