The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.22

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, September 17th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be paid a dividend of 1.22 per share on Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd.

Clorox has increased its dividend payment by an average of 3.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 47 consecutive years. Clorox has a dividend payout ratio of 73.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Clorox to earn $6.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 69.9%.

Clorox Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of CLX stock opened at $163.47 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $20.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.68, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.40. Clorox has a fifty-two week low of $114.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.09. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 281.12%. Research analysts forecast that Clorox will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,719.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CLX has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $153.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Clorox from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Clorox presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.50.

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.