The Clorox Company (CLX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.22 on May 9th

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 25th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a dividend of 1.22 per share on Friday, May 9th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd.

Clorox has raised its dividend by an average of 1.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 47 consecutive years. Clorox has a payout ratio of 66.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CLX opened at $153.15 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $157.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $160.08. Clorox has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.37. The company has a market capitalization of $18.87 billion, a PE ratio of 41.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.94.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CLX shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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 upgraded shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.