Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Lifted to “Buy” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Clorox (NYSE:CLX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $187.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $174.00.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CLX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Clorox to a strong sell rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Argus upgraded shares of Clorox to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Clorox in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a sell rating and a $122.00 price target for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $146.13.

Clorox Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Clorox stock opened at $161.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.41. The company has a market cap of $20.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. Clorox has a fifty-two week low of $114.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.28. Clorox had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 281.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Clorox will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 252.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,277,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,339,150,000 after buying an additional 48,632 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Clorox by 150.6% during the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,597,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,035,000 after purchasing an additional 960,094 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Clorox by 1,715.5% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,461,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380,724 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Clorox during the 4th quarter worth approximately $144,844,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Clorox by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 961,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,200,000 after purchasing an additional 120,716 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

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.