The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) have been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $148.63.

CLX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on Clorox from $148.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Clorox from $155.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Clorox from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $162.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a report on Wednesday, April 17th.

Clorox Stock Performance

NYSE:CLX opened at $146.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37. Clorox has a 12-month low of $114.68 and a 12-month high of $178.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $149.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 232.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.43.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $1.08. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 319.41% and a net margin of 1.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Clorox will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 761.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Clorox by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 198,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,268,000 after acquiring an additional 33,135 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Clorox by 17,658.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 484,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,078,000 after acquiring an additional 481,725 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Clorox in the 3rd quarter worth $6,605,000. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter worth $2,940,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Clorox by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. 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.