The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Short Interest Update

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,760,000 shares, an increase of 18.6% from the October 31st total of 3,170,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Clorox

In other Clorox news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $286,846.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. This represents a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clorox

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Clorox by 10.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 135,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,840,000 after buying an additional 12,776 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Clorox by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 29,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,873,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 10,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Clorox by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 22,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864 shares during the period. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Clorox by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Clorox stock opened at $167.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. Clorox has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.35. The company has a market cap of $20.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $163.09 and its 200 day moving average is $149.39.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) 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 return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Clorox will post 6.85 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox’s payout ratio is currently 170.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CLX. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup increased their target price on Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.00.

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.