Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Price Target Raised to $161.00

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) had its price objective raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $157.00 to $161.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Clorox from $139.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Clorox has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.21.

Clorox Stock Performance

Clorox stock opened at $147.55 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $161.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $158.67. Clorox has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. The company has a market cap of $18.26 billion, a PE ratio of 51.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.42.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Clorox will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CLX. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 25,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,567 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 63.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $216,000. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Finally, Axiom Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 11,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,679,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. 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.