Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Clorox (NYSE:CLX) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $157.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $155.00.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.46.

Clorox Stock Up 0.6 %

CLX opened at $160.73 on Tuesday. Clorox has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $164.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. The company has a market cap of $19.90 billion, a PE ratio of 56.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 170.03%.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Clorox during the third quarter worth about $54,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 287,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,121,000 after acquiring an additional 22,676 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 191,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,266,000 after acquiring an additional 10,149 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of Clorox by 60.5% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 23,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,244,000 after acquiring an additional 8,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Clorox by 1.6% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 353,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,228,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 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.