Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

CLX has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. BNP Paribas raised Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised 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 report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.38.

Clorox Trading Down 0.6 %

Clorox stock opened at $163.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.79, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42. Clorox has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Clorox will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,641,000 after buying an additional 9,720 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its stake in Clorox by 5.9% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 17,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 10.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 135,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,840,000 after acquiring an additional 12,776 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 29,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,873,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 10,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.