The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Given Average Rating of "Reduce" by Analysts

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $155.38.

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Clorox to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Clorox from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Clorox by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company's stock worth $1,332,947,000 after purchasing an additional 245,525 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 46,877.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $733,095,000 after buying an additional 4,490,421 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Clorox by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,028,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $491,713,000 after buying an additional 33,970 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Clorox by 1.7% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,334,826 shares of the company's stock worth $380,370,000 after acquiring an additional 37,967 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC raised its position in Clorox by 150.6% in the second quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,597,674 shares of the company's stock worth $218,035,000 after acquiring an additional 960,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Clorox Trading Down 0.4 %

CLX traded down $0.58 during trading on Thursday, hitting $161.83. 714,304 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,227,744. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $164.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.62. Clorox has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. The firm has a market cap of $20.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Clorox will post 6.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 170.03%.

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.