Short Interest in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Decreases By 10.6%

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,360,000 shares, a decline of 10.6% from the November 15th total of 3,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Clorox Price Performance

Clorox stock traded down $1.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $163.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,095,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,229,642. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.22 billion, a PE ratio of 56.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42. Clorox has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Clorox will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox’s payout ratio is currently 170.03%.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 5.9% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 17,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,904,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Clorox by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 135,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,840,000 after purchasing an additional 12,776 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Clorox by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 29,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,873,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in Clorox by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 10,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in Clorox by 9.2% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 22,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,742,000 after buying an additional 1,864 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.38.

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.