Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $169.21 and last traded at $169.10, with a volume of 954172 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $167.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CLX. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. BNP Paribas upgraded Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.00.

Clorox Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $162.45 and a 200 day moving average of $147.52. The firm has a market cap of $20.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 170.03%.

Insider Activity at Clorox

In other Clorox news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. This trade represents a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in Clorox by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 65,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,710,000 after acquiring an additional 5,051 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 128.5% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Clorox by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,028,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,713,000 after purchasing an additional 33,970 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Clorox by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 30,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,027,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Clorox by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 184 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.