Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Clorox (NYSE:CLX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Sunday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on CLX. Barclays lifted their target price on Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Four equities research 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.46.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of CLX stock opened at $159.76 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap 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 one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $171.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $164.64 and a 200-day moving average of $155.33.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The company’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Clorox will post 6.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox’s payout ratio is currently 170.03%.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Range Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Clorox by 223.1% in the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 4,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $808,000 after purchasing an additional 3,433 shares in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 9,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after buying an additional 1,145 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Clorox by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 45.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.