The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) have been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the fourteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $155.38.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson upped their target price on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com raised Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insight Folios Inc lifted its position in Clorox by 3.0% in the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 19,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,600,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Clorox Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:CLX opened at $162.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.00. Clorox has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $171.37. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.57. The stock has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Clorox will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 170.03%.

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.