Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Given New $150.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) had its price target cut by Citigroup from $155.00 to $150.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s target price points to a potential upside of 5.96% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $155.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Clorox from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Clorox in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “sell” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $162.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Clorox currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.38.

Clorox Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of Clorox stock traded down $6.31 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $141.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,146,565 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,239,296. The company has a market capitalization of $17.57 billion, a PE ratio of 224.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.89. Clorox has a 52 week low of $114.68 and a 52 week high of $178.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.12.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.38. Clorox had a return on equity of 319.41% and a net margin of 1.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Clorox will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CLX. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Clorox by 99.8% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,136,000 after acquiring an additional 22,882 shares in the last quarter. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Clorox in the 1st quarter valued at about $303,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox during the first quarter valued at about $7,490,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clorox in the first quarter worth about $356,000. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Clorox by 11,568.2% in the first quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 12,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 12,725 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.