Citigroup Cuts Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Price Target to $150.00

Clorox (NYSE:CLXFree Report) had its price target lowered by Citigroup from $165.00 to $150.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on CLX. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Clorox from $139.00 to $134.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Clorox from $173.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Clorox from $161.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.25.

Get Our Latest Report on CLX

Clorox Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of CLX opened at $136.89 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $16.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.61. Clorox has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLXGet Free Report) last announced its 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Clorox will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 133.33%.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at $259,041,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Clorox by 75.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,361,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,163,000 after purchasing an additional 585,526 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 549.8% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 542,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,144,000 after purchasing an additional 459,203 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 187.9% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 698,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,508,000 after purchasing an additional 456,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 154.6% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 570,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,655,000 after purchasing an additional 346,449 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

About Clorox

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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.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for Clorox (NYSE:CLX)

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