Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Clorox (NYSE:CLX) to Equal Weight

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $157.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $155.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 2.32% from the stock’s current price.

CLX has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen raised Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.46.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of CLX stock opened at $160.73 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $164.72 and its 200-day moving average is $155.37. 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 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a PE ratio of 56.00, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLX. Insight Folios Inc increased 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 buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC lifted its position in Clorox by 0.4% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 19,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,600,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Clorox by 2.0% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 17.2% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 510 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.