Citigroup Increases Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Price Target to $165.00

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) had its target price boosted by Citigroup from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

CLX has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Clorox in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a sell rating and a $122.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $162.00 to $153.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Argus raised shares of Clorox to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $164.00 to $159.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $143.19.

Clorox Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE CLX opened at $158.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.73, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $139.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.52. The company has a market capitalization of $19.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.39. Clorox has a 12 month low of $114.68 and a 12 month high of $159.05.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 382.58%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Clorox will post 6.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a $1.22 dividend. This is a boost from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 252.85%.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CLX. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 1,715.5% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,461,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380,724 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at about $144,844,000. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 150.6% in the second quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,597,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,035,000 after purchasing an additional 960,094 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at about $128,382,000. Finally, Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at about $128,245,000. 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.