Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Clorox (NYSE:CLX) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $160.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Clorox from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. DA Davidson reiterated a neutral rating and set a $162.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Clorox from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $120.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Clorox in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a sell rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $147.06.

Clorox Price Performance

CLX stock opened at $153.14 on Tuesday. Clorox has a one year low of $114.68 and a one year high of $178.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $150.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $19.01 billion, a PE ratio of 243.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.43.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 319.41%. Clorox’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Clorox will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is presently 761.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Clorox during the 4th quarter valued at about $144,844,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at about $128,382,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at about $128,245,000. Imprint Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 16,986.8% in the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 551,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,139,000 after buying an additional 548,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in Clorox by 75.9% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,130,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,161,000 after purchasing an additional 487,974 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

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.