The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Short Interest Update

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,360,000 shares, a drop of 10.6% from the November 15th total of 3,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Clorox Stock Performance

CLX traded down $1.09 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $163.32. The stock had a trading volume of 1,095,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,229,642. The firm has a market cap of $20.22 billion, a PE ratio of 56.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42. Clorox has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $171.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.34.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Clorox will post 6.85 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Clorox’s payout ratio is 170.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clorox

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Insight Folios Inc raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 3.0% during the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 0.4% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 19,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,600,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.0% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.2% during the second quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 17.2% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 510 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CLX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.38.

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.