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

Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $134.0833.

CLX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Clorox from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Clorox from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Clorox from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price target (down from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of CLX opened at $123.30 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.15, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.84. Clorox has a 1 year low of $116.53 and a 1 year high of $171.37. The company’s fifty day moving average is $122.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.64.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.63. Clorox had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 377.86%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Clorox will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 22nd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.07%.

Insider Activity at Clorox

In related news, COO Eric H. Reynolds sold 15,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.78, for a total value of $1,861,774.98. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 54,221 shares in the company, valued at $6,711,475.38. This represents a 21.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Clorox by 138.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,245,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,648,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,465 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Clorox during the second quarter worth $190,429,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings 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 worth $149,983,000 after acquiring an additional 856,873 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox in the second quarter valued at $71,856,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 118.8% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,085,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,699,000 after acquiring an additional 589,544 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.