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

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the fourteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $157.46.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen raised shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday.

Clorox Stock Performance

CLX opened at $160.73 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $164.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42. Clorox has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The company’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Clorox will post 6.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 170.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Clorox during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Clorox by 139.8% in the 2nd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in Clorox by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 184 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Clorox by 99.1% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the third quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

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.