Zacks Research Upgrades Clorox (NYSE:CLX) to “Hold”

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on CLX. UBS Group dropped their price target on Clorox from $150.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $118.00 to $112.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Clorox presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $141.09.

Clorox Stock Performance

Clorox stock opened at $123.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.15, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.02. Clorox has a fifty-two week low of $116.53 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37. The stock has a market cap of $15.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.52.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.63. Clorox had a return on equity of 377.86% and a net margin of 11.40%.The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Clorox has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.950-6.30 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Clorox will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Clorox news, COO Eric H. Reynolds sold 15,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.78, for a total transaction of $1,861,774.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 54,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,711,475.38. The trade was a 21.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 269,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,747,000 after purchasing an additional 36,352 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 1st quarter worth $247,000. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 1st quarter worth $399,000. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 1st quarter worth $400,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 28,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,159 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.