Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Sunday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Clorox from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Clorox from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $155.38.

Clorox Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CLX traded up $1.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $162.89. The company had a trading volume of 671,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 692,770. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.76, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $164.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Clorox has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. The company 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 revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Clorox will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CLX. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Clorox during the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 287,277 shares of the company's stock worth $39,121,000 after acquiring an additional 22,676 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 191,919 shares of the company's stock worth $31,266,000 after acquiring an additional 10,149 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in Clorox by 60.5% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 23,769 shares of the company's stock worth $3,244,000 after buying an additional 8,957 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.6% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 353,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,228,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.