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

Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $159.62.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CLX. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price target on Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of Clorox stock opened at $148.54 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $154.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $160.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Clorox has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Clorox will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CLX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Clorox in the 4th quarter worth approximately $259,041,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Clorox by 75.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,361,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,163,000 after buying an additional 585,526 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Clorox by 549.8% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 542,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,144,000 after buying an additional 459,203 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Clorox by 187.9% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 698,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,508,000 after buying an additional 456,114 shares during the period. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP grew its position in Clorox by 512.7% during the third quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 542,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,315,000 after buying an additional 453,624 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.