The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Reduce” rating on Clorox, with four sell ratings and 13 holds. The average 12-month price target is $101.40.
• Clorox shares fell 2.1% to $83.17, near their 52-week low of $83.09, while institutional investors own 78.53% of the stock.
• The company slightly beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates but reported a 2% year-over-year revenue decline. Clorox raised its quarterly dividend to $1.25 per share, yielding approximately 6%, though its payout ratio exceeds 100%.

Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" by the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and thirteen have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $101.40.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Clorox in a report on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Clorox from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $125.00 to $98.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Clorox in a research report on Friday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Clorox from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 2nd quarter worth $958,640,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Clorox by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,172,233 shares of the company's stock valued at $318,613,000 after purchasing an additional 10,060 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Clorox by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,136,405 shares of the company's stock valued at $316,244,000 after purchasing an additional 426,433 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Clorox during the second quarter valued at about $179,780,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Clorox by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,619,396 shares of the company's stock worth $163,284,000 after buying an additional 142,463 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Clorox Trading Down 2.1%

Clorox stock opened at $83.17 on Friday. Clorox has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $128.90. The business's fifty day moving average is $98.27 and its 200 day moving average is $99.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.06 billion, a PE ratio of 17.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.80, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 522.23% and a net margin of 8.74%.Clorox's revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.87 EPS. Clorox has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.700-6.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Clorox will post 5.8 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. This is a positive change from Clorox's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.73%.

Clorox Company Profile

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.

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