Short Interest in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Drops By 5.0%

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,360,000 shares, a decrease of 5.0% from the May 31st total of 4,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,270,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Clorox from $155.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $162.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Argus raised shares of Clorox to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Clorox in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Clorox from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.33.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of CLX opened at $132.56 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.39. Clorox has a fifty-two week low of $114.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.73, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The business’s 50-day moving average is $136.49 and its 200-day moving average is $143.67.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 302.49% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Clorox will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clorox

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Clorox by 15.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Clorox by 6.8% during the second quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 71,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,706,000 after purchasing an additional 4,515 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire grew its holdings in Clorox by 11.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 1,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Clorox by 95.1% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hamilton Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Clorox during the first quarter valued at approximately $233,000. 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.