The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Receives $146.43 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and twelve have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $146.43.

CLX has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on Clorox from $164.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Clorox from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Clorox from $159.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $162.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 13,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services now owns 2,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Clorox by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 21,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,097,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Trading Up 0.2 %

Clorox stock opened at $131.54 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.73. Clorox has a 52 week low of $114.68 and a 52 week high of $169.14. The company has a market capitalization of $16.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $143.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.80.

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

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th were paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 248.71%.

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.