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

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 19th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a dividend of 1.22 per share on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%.

Clorox has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 47 years. Clorox has a payout ratio of 71.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Clorox to earn $7.17 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 68.1%.

Clorox Trading Down 0.6 %

CLX traded down $0.94 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $168.16. 1,075,779 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,242,177. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.81 billion, a PE ratio of 58.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $162.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. Clorox has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $169.21.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. Clorox’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Clorox will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clorox

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the business’s 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 owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,229,719.92. The trade was a 11.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CLX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of 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 objective on Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.00.

Clorox Company Profile

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.