Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Price Target Cut to $135.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) had its price target trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Clorox from an underperform rating to a hold rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Clorox from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price target on Clorox from $164.00 to $159.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Clorox from $159.00 to $158.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Clorox from $155.00 to $151.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $146.43.

Clorox Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:CLX opened at $138.23 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.73. Clorox has a twelve month low of $114.68 and a twelve month high of $176.24. The company has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $148.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $143.43.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 302.49% and a net margin of 3.33%. Clorox’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Clorox will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 248.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clorox

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Clorox by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,341,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,010,622,000 after purchasing an additional 44,344 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 17.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,415,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,517,000 after buying an additional 357,964 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Clorox by 2.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,184,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,356,000 after buying an additional 47,879 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Clorox by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,738,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,904,000 after acquiring an additional 30,902 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Clorox by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,633,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,103,000 after acquiring an additional 42,352 shares in the last quarter. 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.