Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Rating Increased to Hold at Jefferies Financial Group

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) was upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $145.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price points to a potential downside of 5.07% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Clorox from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Clorox in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “sell” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Bank of America upgraded Clorox from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $120.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $162.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a report on Monday, February 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.06.

Clorox Stock Up 1.9 %

Clorox stock opened at $152.74 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $150.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $140.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $18.96 billion, a PE ratio of 242.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.43. Clorox has a 1-year low of $114.68 and a 1-year high of $178.21.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $1.08. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 319.41% and a net margin of 1.09%. Clorox’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Clorox will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Clorox by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 13,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Clorox by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $720,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Toroso Investments LLC increased its position in Clorox by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 5,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $833,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services increased its position in Clorox by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services now owns 2,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Clorox by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.