Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Price Target Cut to $137.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has reduced its price target for Clorox from $150.00 to $137.00, maintaining an "equal weight" rating on the stock, which suggests a potential upside of 10.63%.
• Multiple analysts have cut their target prices for Clorox, with UBS Group lowering theirs to $134.00 and Citigroup to $135.00, reflecting a cautious outlook on the company.
• Clorox reported better-than-expected earnings of $2.87 per share for the previous quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $2.24 and indicating a 4.5% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $137.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's price target suggests a potential upside of 10.63% from the stock's previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group cut their target price on Clorox from $150.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $135.00 target price (down previously from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Clorox from $144.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on Clorox and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Clorox from $129.00 to $119.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Clorox has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $144.00.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of CLX stock traded down $1.73 during trading on Friday, hitting $123.84. The company had a trading volume of 653,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,612,737. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.07. The stock's 50-day moving average is $126.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.51. Clorox has a 52 week low of $117.35 and a 52 week high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 324.23%. Clorox's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Clorox will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clorox

In other Clorox news, Director Pierre R. Breber purchased 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $136.57 per share, with a total value of $546,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $546,280. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Clorox by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,573,076 shares of the company's stock worth $2,293,135,000 after acquiring an additional 65,924 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Clorox by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,098,302 shares of the company's stock worth $501,925,000 after acquiring an additional 69,969 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Clorox by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,344,408 shares of the company's stock worth $380,761,000 after acquiring an additional 9,582 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Clorox by 2.3% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,528,920 shares of the company's stock worth $225,133,000 after acquiring an additional 34,655 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Clorox by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,421,909 shares of the company's stock worth $230,932,000 after acquiring an additional 316,688 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

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.

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