The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Short Interest Down 18.1% in March

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,540,000 shares, a decrease of 18.1% from the February 28th total of 4,320,000 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CLX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Clorox from $161.00 to $155.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $159.00.

Clorox Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of Clorox stock traded down $4.93 during trading on Friday, reaching $143.76. 2,292,858 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,285,183. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.71 billion, a PE ratio of 39.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. Clorox has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $171.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $150.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $158.40. 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 (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Clorox will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 133.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Clorox by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,507,152 shares of the company's stock worth $2,518,517,000 after purchasing an additional 124,428 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Clorox by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,332,947,000 after acquiring an additional 245,525 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Clorox by 2.3% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Clorox by 0.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at about $259,041,000. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Clorox Company Profile

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.