Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Stock Price

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) had its price objective reduced by stock analysts at Barclays from $140.00 to $139.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price target would suggest a potential downside of 3.43% from the stock’s current price.

CLX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com cut Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Clorox has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.50.

Clorox Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Clorox stock opened at $143.94 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $159.31. Clorox has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.34, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Clorox will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the fourth quarter worth about $259,041,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Clorox by 75.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,361,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,163,000 after purchasing an additional 585,526 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 549.8% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 542,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,144,000 after buying an additional 459,203 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 187.9% in the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 698,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,508,000 after buying an additional 456,114 shares during the period. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 512.7% in the third quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 542,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,315,000 after buying an additional 453,624 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.