Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Upgraded by TD Cowen to “Hold” Rating

TD Cowen upgraded shares of Clorox (NYSE:CLX) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. TD Cowen currently has $170.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $155.00.

CLX has been the subject of several other reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. BNP Paribas upgraded Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.00.

Clorox Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CLX opened at $165.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. Clorox has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $169.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.83.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. Clorox’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. Analysts predict that Clorox will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Clorox’s payout ratio is presently 170.04%.

Insider Transactions at Clorox

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $286,846.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,719.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CLX. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 99.8% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,136,000 after purchasing an additional 22,882 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,519,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 1st quarter worth approximately $88,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in Clorox by 39.7% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 6,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Clorox by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

About Clorox

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.