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

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 25th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be given a dividend of 1.22 per share on Friday, May 9th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%.

Clorox has increased its dividend by an average of 1.9% 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 66.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Clorox to earn $7.12 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 68.5%.

Clorox Price Performance

NYSE:CLX traded down $3.54 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $153.49. 173,531 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,328,134. Clorox has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.37. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $157.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $160.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The firm has a market cap of $18.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.42.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Clorox will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CLX shares. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen raised Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $158.21.

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.