Citigroup Cuts Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Price Target to $97.00

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) had its price target trimmed by Citigroup from $100.00 to $97.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on CLX. Wall Street Zen lowered Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $98.00 target price on Clorox in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Clorox in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Clorox from $102.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $101.40.

Clorox Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of CLX stock opened at $87.78 on Friday. Clorox has a 1-year low of $84.70 and a 1-year high of $128.90. The firm has a market cap of $10.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average of $99.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.80, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.02. Clorox had a net margin of 8.74% and a return on equity of 522.23%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.87 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Clorox has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.700-6.000 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Clorox will post 5.8 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. Clorox’s payout ratio is presently 103.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Haverford Trust Co lifted its stake in Clorox by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 3,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 454 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 5,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Clorox

The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) is a consumer products company that develops, manufactures and markets household, health and wellness, and lifestyle products. Its portfolio includes cleaning and disinfecting products, laundry and home-care items, food products, personal-care products, water-filtration systems, charcoal, and cat litter.

Clorox’s brands include Clorox bleach and disinfecting products, Pine-Sol, Fresh Step and Scoop Away, Kingsford, Brita, Burt’s Bees, Hidden Valley, and products marketed under the Glad name.