Barclays Cuts Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Price Target to $132.00

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) had its price target reduced by Barclays from $136.00 to $132.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CLX. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Clorox in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a sell rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from an underperform rating to a hold rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an equal weight rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $155.00 to $151.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $146.43.

Clorox Price Performance

NYSE:CLX traded down $1.44 on Thursday, reaching $138.23. 2,036,238 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,340,454. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.17. Clorox has a 12 month low of $114.68 and a 12 month high of $176.24. The firm has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a PE ratio of 71.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.73.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.38. Clorox had a return on equity of 302.49% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Clorox will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is presently 248.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clorox

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Clorox during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Clorox by 308.5% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

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.