UBS Cuts Price Target on Clorox (CLX) to $111 Following 1Q EPS Miss

UBS maintained a Sell rating on Clorox (NYSE: CLX), and cut the price target to $111.00 (from $118.00), following the company's 1Q earnings report. CLX missed EPS, reporting $1.36 compared to consensus of $1.42. CLX lowered FY17 EPS guidance to $5.23-$5.43 (from $5.38-$5.58 prior).

Analyst Stephen Powers commented, "For the second consecutive quarter, CLX missed EPS (delivering Q1:17 EPS of $1.36 vs. UBSe/cons. of $1.41/$1.42). Revenues grew +4.0% (vs. UBSe/cons. of +3.2%/+2.8%) and +6.0% FX-neutral (vs. UBSe +5.5%) on strong volumes (+8.0%) and help from M&A (a ~+2.0% contribution from Renew Life)—however, weaker gross margins (-61 bps vs. of UBSe +20 bps) and higher taxes (32.2% vs. UBSe of 30.5%) weighed on results. Additionally, CLX lowered FY17 EPS guidance to $5.23-$5.43 (from $5.38-$5.58 prior) as it now expects a lower tax benefit (~$0.15) from the adoption of ASU 2016-09, although it maintained underlying FY17 EPS guidance of $5.13-$5.28."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Clorox click here. For more ratings news on Clorox click here.

Shares of Clorox closed at $115.67 yesterday.

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