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Friday, July 20, 2018

What to Expect When GE Reports

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is scheduled to release its second-quarter financial results before the markets open on Friday. The consensus estimates of $0.18 in earnings per share (EPS) and $29.31 billion in revenue compare with the $0.28 per share and $29.56 billion posted in the same period of last year.

In late June, the company announced its plan to focus on its Power, Aviation, Renewable Energy and GE Capital businesses while it sells or spins off its Healthcare, Oil & Gas, Transportation and Lighting businesses. Based on 2017 revenues, GE��s plan chops about $40 billion in sales from a total of around $125 billion.

GE already has shed its Distributed Power, Industrial Solutions and Value-Based Care divisions, and it has agreed to combine its Transportation business with Wabtec in a new company. These deals have substantially achieved CEO John Flannery��s promise to divest $20 billion in assets.

The company also plans to spin off its Healthcare business and to separate Baker Hughes over the next two or three years. The Lighting business already has been pared down, and the company had no more to say about its fate although it has been seeking a buyer for more than a year.

Over the course of the past 52 weeks, GE has underperformed the broad markets, with the stock down about 49%. In just 2018 alone, the stock is down 21%.

A few analysts weighed in on GE ahead of the report:

Gabelli has a Buy rating. JPMorgan has a Sell rating with an $11 price target. Deutsche Bank has a Hold rating and a $15 price target. Barclays has a Neutral rating with a $16 price target. Citigroup has a Buy rating with a $21 price target. Goldman Sachs has a Neutral rating with a $14 target. Oppenheimer has a Market Perform rating.

Shares of GE were last seen trading at $13.65, with a consensus analyst price target of $17.21 and a 52-week trading range of $12.61 to $27.05.

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Thursday, July 19, 2018

Northstar Investment Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 1,490 Clorox Co (CLX)

Northstar Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Clorox Co (NYSE:CLX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the first quarter worth about $106,000. Ostrum Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the 1st quarter worth about $112,000. Personal Capital Advisors Corp acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the 1st quarter worth about $201,000. Oakbrook Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the 2nd quarter worth about $203,000. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the 1st quarter worth about $213,000. 76.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Clorox stock traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $129.98. The stock had a trading volume of 31,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,143,084. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14. The stock has a market cap of $17.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38. Clorox Co has a fifty-two week low of $113.57 and a fifty-two week high of $150.40.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 107.93% and a net margin of 13.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. analysts expect that Clorox Co will post 5.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 1st will be issued a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.78%.

Clorox declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 24th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 12.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CLX shares. BMO Capital Markets set a $147.00 price objective on Clorox and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Clorox from $133.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 5th. Barclays set a $131.00 price objective on Clorox and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 6th. Zacks Investment Research cut Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Co cut their price objective on Clorox from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.84.

About Clorox

The Clorox Company manufactures and markets consumer and professional products worldwide. It operates through four segments: Cleaning, Household, Lifestyle, and International. The company offers laundry additives, including bleach products under the Clorox brand, as well as Clorox 2 stain fighters and color boosters; home care products primarily under the Clorox, Formula 409, Liquid-Plumr, Pine-Sol, S.O.S, and Tilex brands; naturally derived products under the Green Works brand; and professional cleaning and disinfecting products under the Clorox, Dispatch, Aplicare, HealthLink, and Clorox Healthcare brands.