Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Clorox (NYSE:CLX) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday,Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen cut Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Clorox from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 11th. Evercore set a $99.00 target price on Clorox in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Clorox from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $101.40.

Clorox Price Performance

Clorox stock opened at $87.14 on Monday. Clorox has a 52-week low of $84.70 and a 52-week high of $128.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $98.89 and its 200 day moving average is $99.83. The company has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.56.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.02. Clorox had a net margin of 8.74% and a return on equity of 522.23%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.87 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Clorox has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.700-6.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Clorox will post 5.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This is an increase from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. Clorox’s payout ratio is 103.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CLX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Clorox in the second quarter worth about $958,640,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Clorox during the 2nd quarter valued at about $179,780,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Clorox during the 4th quarter valued at about $135,735,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Clorox in the 2nd quarter valued at about $123,154,000. Finally, Equity Investment Corp purchased a new stake in Clorox in the 2nd quarter valued at about $111,800,000. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

About Clorox

The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) is a consumer products company that develops, manufactures and markets household, health and wellness, and lifestyle products. Its portfolio includes cleaning and disinfecting products, laundry and home-care items, food products, personal-care products, water-filtration systems, charcoal, and cat litter.

Clorox’s brands include Clorox bleach and disinfecting products, Pine-Sol, Fresh Step and Scoop Away, Kingsford, Brita, Burt’s Bees, Hidden Valley, and products marketed under the Glad name.