Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Posted by Defense World Staff on Sep 20th, 2023

StockNews.com cut shares of Clorox (NYSE:CLX – Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Clorox from $176.00 to $152.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price objective on Clorox from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Clorox from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Atlantic Securities raised Clorox from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $147.77.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on CLX

Clorox Stock Down 3.0 %

CLX stock opened at $138.42 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $17.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.32, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.28. Clorox has a fifty-two week low of $124.58 and a fifty-two week high of $178.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $154.49 and a 200-day moving average of $157.71.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 163.56% and a net margin of 2.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Clorox will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 9th were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 8th. This is a positive change from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is 403.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevin B. Jacobsen sold 3,346 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.82, for a total transaction of $538,103.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,734,883.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clorox

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Clorox by 670.0% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 3,350 shares during the last quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Clorox by 487.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Clorox during the 2nd quarter valued at about $638,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Clorox during the 2nd quarter valued at about $573,000. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in Clorox by 110.2% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 24,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,954,000 after acquiring an additional 13,026 shares during the last quarter. 77.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Clorox

(Get Free Report)

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.