Clorox (NYSE:CLX) PT Lowered to $135.00

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the stock.

CLX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Clorox from an underperform rating to a hold rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an equal weight rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $155.00 to $151.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Clorox in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a sell rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Clorox from $159.00 to $158.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $146.43.

Clorox Trading Down 1.0 %

CLX opened at $138.23 on Thursday. Clorox has a 52 week low of $114.68 and a 52 week high of $176.24. The company has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.62, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $148.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.73.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 302.49% and a net margin of 3.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. Analysts forecast that Clorox will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 248.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,341,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,010,622,000 after purchasing an additional 44,344 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Clorox by 17.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,415,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,517,000 after buying an additional 357,964 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,184,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,356,000 after acquiring an additional 47,879 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,738,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,904,000 after acquiring an additional 30,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Clorox by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,633,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,103,000 after purchasing an additional 42,352 shares in the last quarter. 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.