StockNews.com Upgrades Clorox (NYSE:CLX) to “Buy”

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. BNP Paribas raised Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.38.

Clorox Stock Up 1.5 %

CLX opened at $164.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.19, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.48. Clorox has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clorox

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CLX. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Clorox by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Clorox by 10.1% in the second quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 28,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,928,000 after purchasing an additional 2,634 shares during the period. &PARTNERS bought a new stake in Clorox during the second quarter valued at $340,000. Slow Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 2.8% during the second quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 18,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,486,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 61.5% in the 2nd quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 2,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.