Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Clorox (NYSE:CLX) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Clorox from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Clorox from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Clorox in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Clorox in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $101.40.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CLX opened at $83.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.13. Clorox has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $128.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.80.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.87 EPS. Clorox’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Clorox has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.700-6.000 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Clorox will post 5.8 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.0%. This is a boost from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. Clorox’s payout ratio is presently 103.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clorox

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CLX. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Clorox during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Clorox in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Markowski Investments purchased a new position in shares of Clorox in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Clorox by 83.8% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SHP Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

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.