Morgan Stanley Reiterates “Equal Weight” Rating for Clorox (NYSE:CLX)

Morgan Stanley reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of Clorox (NYSE:CLX) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $160.00 target price on the stock.

CLX has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from an underperform rating to a hold rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their target price on Clorox from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Clorox from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America raised Clorox from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $150.00 in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a neutral rating and issued a $162.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a report on Monday, February 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Clorox has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $147.06.

Clorox Price Performance

CLX opened at $153.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.89. Clorox has a 52-week low of $114.68 and a 52-week high of $178.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.00 billion, a PE ratio of 243.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $150.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.02.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $1.08. Clorox had a return on equity of 319.41% and a net margin of 1.09%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Clorox will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 761.92%.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Clorox during the fourth quarter valued at $412,000. M3 Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter worth about $327,000. Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter worth about $430,000. MONECO Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter worth about $236,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter worth about $129,000. Hedge funds and other 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.