The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Receives Consensus Rating of "Reduce" from Analysts

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $153.00.

CLX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Clorox from $151.00 to $144.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Clorox from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on Clorox and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group cut their price target on Clorox from $176.00 to $154.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th.

Insider Activity at Clorox

In other news, Director Pierre R. Breber bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $136.57 per share, for a total transaction of $546,280.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,280. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CLX. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Clorox during the fourth quarter worth approximately $259,041,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 118.8% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,085,661 shares of the company's stock worth $159,699,000 after purchasing an additional 589,544 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 75.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,361,758 shares of the company's stock worth $221,163,000 after purchasing an additional 585,526 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 688.7% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 587,679 shares of the company's stock worth $86,535,000 after purchasing an additional 513,171 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 412.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 598,758 shares of the company's stock worth $88,167,000 after purchasing an additional 481,846 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Clorox Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of CLX opened at $119.46 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.07. Clorox has a 12-month low of $119.41 and a 12-month high of $171.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.54. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $132.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.95.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.12). Clorox had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 324.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. The company's revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Clorox will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

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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