StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Clorox (NYSE:CLX)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Clorox (NYSE:CLX – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Clorox in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. They issued a neutral rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Clorox from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Clorox from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Raymond James upped their price target on Clorox from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Clorox from $110.00 to $108.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $141.33.

Clorox Stock Performance

NYSE CLX opened at $153.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $19.02 billion, a PE ratio of 44.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.29. Clorox has a twelve month low of $120.50 and a twelve month high of $160.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.32. Clorox had a net margin of 6.16% and a return on equity of 89.97%. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Clorox will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 26th will be issued a $1.18 dividend. This represents a $4.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 25th. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 134.86%.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CLX. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 86.2% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,945,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,332,000 after purchasing an additional 901,040 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Clorox by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,907,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,255,721,000 after buying an additional 778,269 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Clorox during the fourth quarter worth approximately $101,609,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Clorox by 5.6% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,964,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,407,673,000 after buying an additional 580,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,750,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,630,000 after acquiring an additional 298,692 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.12% of the company’s stock.

About Clorox

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The Clorox Co engages in the manufacture and marketing of consumer and professional products. It operates through the following business segments: Health and Wellness, Household, Lifestyle, and International. The Health and Wellness segment consists of cleaning products, professional products and vitamins, minerals and supplements mainly marketed and sold in the United States.