The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) has received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $158.21.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CLX shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CLX. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in Clorox by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Clorox in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Clorox during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Price Performance

NYSE:CLX opened at $152.93 on Friday. Clorox has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $158.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.68. The firm has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.42.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Clorox will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

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.