[ZACKS] Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.
Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, dividends. A dividend is the distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders; it's often viewed by its dividend yield, a metric that measures a dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.
CLOROX IN FOCUS
Clorox (CLX - Free Report) is headquartered in Oakland, and is in the Consumer Staples sector. The stock has seen a price change of 39.38% since the start of the year. Currently paying a dividend of $1.11 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 2.07%. In comparison, the Soap and Cleaning Materials industry's yield is 1.89%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.65%.
In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $4.44 is up 4.7% from last year. In the past five-year period, Clorox has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 8.36%. Future dividend growth will depend on earnings growth as well as payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Clorox's current payout ratio is 58%, meaning it paid out 58% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Earnings growth looks solid for CLX for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 is $7.76 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 5.43%.
CLX Dividend History found here. |