Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Stock Price

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $150.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 11.69% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on CLX. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Clorox from $176.00 to $154.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $151.00 to $144.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clorox currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $152.77.

Clorox Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE CLX traded down $4.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $134.30. 1,119,030 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,288,905. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Clorox has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.37. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $143.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.69. The company has a market cap of $16.54 billion, a PE ratio of 36.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.60.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.74 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.71 EPS. Research analysts predict that Clorox will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 10.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 135,225 shares of the company's stock worth $21,840,000 after acquiring an additional 12,776 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 6.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,257 shares of the company's stock worth $24,641,000 after acquiring an additional 9,720 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in Clorox by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 9,991 shares of the company's stock worth $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 223.1% in the 4th quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 4,972 shares of the company's stock valued at $808,000 after purchasing an additional 3,433 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 46,309 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,544,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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