The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Short Interest Down 5.0% in June

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,360,000 shares, a decrease of 5.0% from the May 31st total of 4,590,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,270,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Currently, 3.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Clorox Stock Performance

Clorox stock opened at $133.54 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.73. The company has a market capitalization of $16.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.19, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $136.74 and its 200 day moving average is $143.73. Clorox has a twelve month low of $114.68 and a twelve month high of $169.14.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 302.49% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Clorox will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CLX. BNP Paribas began coverage on Clorox in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Clorox from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup dropped their target price on Clorox from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Argus upgraded Clorox to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Clorox from $164.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.33.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Clorox by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,341,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,010,622,000 after purchasing an additional 44,344 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Clorox by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,738,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,904,000 after purchasing an additional 30,902 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Clorox during the 4th quarter valued at $144,844,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Clorox during the 4th quarter valued at $128,382,000. Finally, Parsifal Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Clorox during the 4th quarter valued at $128,245,000. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.