Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms Sector Perform Rating for Clorox (NYSE:CLX)

Clorox (NYSE:CLX)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $150.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 5.42% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on CLX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Clorox from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen raised shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.07.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLX opened at $158.60 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $158.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Clorox has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The company’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Clorox will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clorox

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLX. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in Clorox by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Clorox in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in Clorox by 300.0% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in Clorox by 99.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.