The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.20

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 28th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a dividend of 1.20 per share on Friday, May 10th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd.

Clorox has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 46 consecutive years. Clorox has a dividend payout ratio of 75.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Clorox to earn $6.33 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 75.8%.

Clorox Stock Up 0.2 %

CLX stock opened at $143.55 on Monday. Clorox has a twelve month low of $114.68 and a twelve month high of $178.21. The company has a market cap of $17.82 billion, a PE ratio of 227.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $1.08. Clorox had a return on equity of 319.41% and a net margin of 1.09%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Clorox will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on Clorox from $148.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Clorox in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “sell” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Clorox from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $148.63.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Clorox by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Clorox by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 5,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $833,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Clorox by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 475 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its position in shares of Clorox by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 12,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,968,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Clorox by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. 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.