The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,240,000 shares, a decrease of 13.4% from the September 30th total of 3,740,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,210,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Clorox from $130.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $153.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research note on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “sell” rating and a $122.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Clorox from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.14.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CLX traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $157.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 861,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,220,366. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.53 billion, a PE ratio of 81.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $160.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.72. Clorox has a 52 week low of $114.68 and a 52 week high of $169.09.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 281.12% and a net margin of 3.95%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Clorox will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 23rd. Clorox’s payout ratio is presently 252.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Clorox news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $286,846.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clorox

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Clorox by 1,715.5% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,461,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,411,000 after buying an additional 1,380,724 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC raised its position in Clorox by 150.6% during the second quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,597,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,035,000 after purchasing an additional 960,094 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in Clorox by 13,547.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 440,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,063,000 after purchasing an additional 436,891 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Clorox by 424.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 538,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $877,390,000 after purchasing an additional 435,971 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in Clorox by 5,442.5% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 273,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,622,000 after purchasing an additional 268,966 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.