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 eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $142.1818.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CLX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Clorox from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group cut their price target on Clorox from $150.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays cut their price target on Clorox from $129.00 to $119.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (down previously from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Clorox from $138.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday.

Insider Activity at Clorox

In other news, COO Eric H. Reynolds sold 15,041 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.78, for a total transaction of $1,861,774.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 54,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,711,475.38. This represents a 21.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clorox

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,845,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,902,569,000 after buying an additional 272,420 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 138.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,245,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,648,000 after buying an additional 1,883,465 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the second quarter valued at $190,429,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.3% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,528,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,133,000 after buying an additional 34,655 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 218.4% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,249,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,983,000 after buying an additional 856,873 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of Clorox stock opened at $125.88 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $132.99. Clorox has a 12 month low of $116.53 and a 12 month high of $171.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.15, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.63. Clorox had a return on equity of 377.86% and a net margin of 11.40%.The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Clorox has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.950-6.30 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Clorox will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were given a $1.24 dividend. This is an increase from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.07%.

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.