Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Clorox (NYSE:CLX) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on CLX. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Clorox from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Clorox in a research report on Friday, July 10th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on Clorox from $97.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $101.07.

Clorox Stock Up 2.0%

NYSE CLX opened at $82.03 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $95.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.52. Clorox has a one year low of $79.12 and a one year high of $128.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.80, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $9.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is 103.73%.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Clorox in the second quarter worth approximately $958,640,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Clorox in the second quarter valued at $179,780,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Clorox in the second quarter valued at $123,154,000. Equity Investment Corp acquired a new position in shares of Clorox in the 2nd quarter valued at $111,800,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Clorox in the 2nd quarter valued at $68,473,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Company Profile

The Clorox Company is a consumer and professional products company that develops, manufactures and markets household cleaning, disinfecting, wellness and personal care products. Its portfolio includes the Clorox bleach and cleaning brands, as well as products sold under brands such as Pine-Sol, Liquid-Plumr, Fresh Step, Scoop Away, Kingsford, Hidden Valley, Burt’s Bees and Brita.

Clorox also offers trash bags, food products, water-filtration systems, charcoal and grilling products, cat litter, and professional cleaning and disinfecting solutions.