Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Price Target Raised to $171.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) had its price objective lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $167.00 to $171.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on CLX. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.23.

Clorox Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Clorox stock opened at $160.50 on Thursday. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.92, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.42. Clorox has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.37.

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

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 170.03%.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Insight Folios Inc boosted its stake in Clorox by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. HCR Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in Clorox by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 6,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Clorox by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in Clorox by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 510 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Clorox by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. 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.