Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Upgraded to “Buy” by Jefferies Financial Group

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) was upgraded by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday, FinViz reports. The brokerage presently has a $187.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $174.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 14.79% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Clorox from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “sell” rating and a $122.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $153.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Clorox from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.13.

Clorox Trading Down 0.3 %

Clorox stock opened at $162.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $20.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. Clorox has a 1 year low of $114.68 and a 1 year high of $169.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $152.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.04.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.28. Clorox had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 281.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Clorox will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Clorox news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 10,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. American Trust bought a new stake in Clorox in the second quarter valued at about $273,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Clorox in the second quarter valued at about $283,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Clorox in the second quarter valued at about $2,964,000. Finally, Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL increased its stake in Clorox by 3.8% in the second quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 8,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

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.