Citigroup Lowers Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Price Target to $155.00

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) had its price target reduced by Citigroup from $165.00 to $155.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CLX. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from an underperform rating to a hold rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays dropped their price target on Clorox from $148.00 to $136.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an equal weight rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $148.50.

Clorox Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE CLX traded up $1.91 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $142.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,053,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,214,925. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $17.68 billion, a PE ratio of 226.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.43. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $150.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.68. Clorox has a fifty-two week low of $114.68 and a fifty-two week high of $178.21.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $1.08. Clorox had a return on equity of 319.41% and a net margin of 1.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Clorox will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Clorox's payout ratio is currently 761.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Clorox by 17,658.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 484,453 shares of the company's stock worth $69,078,000 after buying an additional 481,725 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Clorox during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,605,000. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,940,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,551 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,362,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 742.8% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 78,713 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,316,000 after buying an additional 69,373 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.