Analysts Set The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) PT at $152.77

Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) have been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $151.23.

CLX has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Clorox from $176.00 to $154.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on shares of Clorox and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Clorox from $151.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Clorox from $134.00 to $129.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th.

Clorox Trading Down 2.2%

CLX opened at $134.79 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $142.37 and its 200-day moving average is $154.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. Clorox has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $171.37. The company has a market cap of $16.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.83, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.60.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.12). Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.71 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Clorox will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd were paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Pierre R. Breber acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $136.57 per share, for a total transaction of $546,280.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,280. The trade was a ? increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 6,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Clorox by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 13,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC increased its stake in Clorox by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 2,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

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.