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

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) had its price target lowered by Citigroup from $165.00 to $155.00 in a report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CLX. Morgan Stanley restated an equal weight rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $136.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Clorox from an underperform rating to a hold rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Clorox from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Clorox presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $148.63.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of Clorox stock opened at $143.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 227.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.43. Clorox has a 52 week low of $114.68 and a 52 week high of $178.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $150.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.70.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $1.08. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 319.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Clorox will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 761.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLX. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at $144,844,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at $128,382,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the 4th quarter worth $128,245,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the 1st quarter worth $135,630,000. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 16,986.8% during the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 551,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,139,000 after buying an additional 548,165 shares during the last quarter. 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.