The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Short Interest Down 18.1% in March

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,540,000 shares, a decrease of 18.1% from the February 28th total of 4,320,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Clorox Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of CLX stock opened at $147.77 on Thursday. Clorox has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $150.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.20 billion, a PE ratio of 40.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Clorox will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CLX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $161.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $159.00.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 776,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,456,000 after acquiring an additional 168,111 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox in the third quarter valued at $363,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the third quarter worth $213,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 2.6% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 49,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,059,000 after buying an additional 1,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Clorox by 12.6% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $876,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.