Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Receives “Sector Perform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Clorox (NYSE:CLX)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating restated by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $150.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target indicates a potential downside of 6.21% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson upped their price target on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Clorox from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $157.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Clorox presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.07.

Clorox Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CLX traded up $2.12 on Thursday, reaching $159.93. The company had a trading volume of 255,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 982,454. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $19.80 billion, a PE ratio of 55.73, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.42. Clorox has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.37. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $158.01.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Clorox will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Clorox in the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Clorox by 5.6% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 191,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,266,000 after buying an additional 10,149 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Clorox by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,865,000 after buying an additional 9,037 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 63,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,341,000 after acquiring an additional 4,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 723,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,932,000 after acquiring an additional 13,038 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.