Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.38.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of CLX traded down $1.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $161.72. The stock had a trading volume of 1,257,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,229,756. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.35, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $163.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.40. Clorox has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Clorox will post 6.85 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clorox

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Insight Folios Inc increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC increased its stake in Clorox by 0.4% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 19,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,600,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Clorox by 2.0% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.