Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Hits New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $130.00 to $120.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Clorox traded as low as $108.93 and last traded at $109.1610, with a volume of 3409313 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.46.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on shares of Clorox from $118.00 to $110.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group set a $119.00 price objective on shares of Clorox and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Clorox in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $125.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $127.60.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $1,861,774.98. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 54,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,711,475.38. The trade was a 21.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLX. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Clorox by 138.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,245,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,648,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,465 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Clorox during the second quarter worth $190,429,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Clorox by 218.4% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,249,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,983,000 after buying an additional 856,873 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Clorox during the second quarter worth $71,856,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Clorox by 118.8% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,085,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,699,000 after buying an additional 589,544 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.15. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $119.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.29. The company has a market capitalization of $13.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.52.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 377.86%. Clorox’s quarterly revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.86 earnings per share. Clorox has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.950-6.300 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 22nd. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is 77.86%.

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.