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

Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) have received an average rating of “Reduce” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $150.38.

CLX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Atlantic Securities upgraded Clorox from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Clorox from $155.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Clorox from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Clorox news, CFO Kevin B. Jacobsen sold 3,346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.82, for a total transaction of $538,103.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,734,883.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new stake in Clorox during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Clorox by 105.6% during the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Clorox during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Clorox by 429.7% during the first quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Clorox during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 77.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Clorox Stock Performance

CLX stock opened at $149.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 125.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.28. Clorox has a 1 year low of $124.58 and a 1 year high of $178.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $155.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.95.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 163.56% and a net margin of 2.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Clorox will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 9th were issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is a boost from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 8th. Clorox’s payout ratio is 403.36%.

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.