Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Stock Price

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) had its price objective cut by Barclays from $140.00 to $139.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on CLX. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.50.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of CLX stock opened at $146.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $18.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.94, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. Clorox has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The company’s 50 day moving average is $151.34 and its 200 day moving average is $159.03.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.16 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Clorox will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s payout ratio is 133.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLX. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 9,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,481,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Clorox by 2.9% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Clorox by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 776,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,456,000 after purchasing an additional 168,111 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clorox during the 3rd quarter valued at about $363,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clorox in the 3rd quarter valued at about $213,000. 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.