Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Given New $139.00 Price Target at Barclays

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) had its price objective decreased by stock analysts at Barclays from $140.00 to $139.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 4.91% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on CLX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $159.50.

Clorox Price Performance

CLX stock opened at $146.18 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $18.01 billion, a PE ratio of 39.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $151.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $159.09. Clorox has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Clorox will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clorox

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CLX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,507,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,518,517,000 after purchasing an additional 124,428 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Clorox by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,332,947,000 after buying an additional 245,525 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Clorox by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,098,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,925,000 after buying an additional 69,969 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,344,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,761,000 after acquiring an additional 9,582 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Clorox during the fourth quarter worth about $259,041,000. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.