Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Upgraded to “Buy” by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Clorox (NYSE:CLX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $187.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $174.00.

CLX has been the topic of a number of other reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $153.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Clorox to a strong sell rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Clorox from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Clorox to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Clorox currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $146.13.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of CLX opened at $165.32 on Tuesday. Clorox has a twelve month low of $114.68 and a twelve month high of $169.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.66, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.28. Clorox had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 281.12%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Clorox will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 23rd. Clorox’s payout ratio is 252.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of Clorox stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $286,846.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,229,719.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 13,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 0.4% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 19,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,600,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.0% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.2% in the second quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 5.1% in the second quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. 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.