JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Price Target to $144.00

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) had its price objective decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $151.00 to $144.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CLX. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Clorox from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group cut their price target on Clorox from $176.00 to $154.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Clorox from $139.00 to $134.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.23.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of CLX opened at $137.75 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $142.69 and its 200-day moving average is $154.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.97 billion, a PE ratio of 37.64, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.60. Clorox has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. Clorox’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Clorox will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s payout ratio is 87.61%.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors raised its position in Clorox by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 6,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.5% during the first quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.6% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 13,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 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.