Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $157.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $155.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Clorox from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Clorox from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Clorox from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clorox presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $157.46.

Clorox Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Clorox stock traded up $2.17 on Tuesday, hitting $159.76. The company had a trading volume of 1,246,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,090,152. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42. Clorox has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $164.58 and a 200-day moving average of $155.17.

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

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox's dividend payout ratio is currently 170.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Insight Folios Inc boosted its position in Clorox by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,195 shares of the company's stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC boosted its position in Clorox by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 19,050 shares of the company's stock worth $2,600,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Clorox by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,634 shares of the company's stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. boosted its position in Clorox by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company's stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in Clorox by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 510 shares of the company's stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is currently 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.