Dividend Aristocrats In Focus: The Clorox Company

Updated on January 30th, 2026 by Bob Ciura

Consumer staples stocks are some of the most reliable dividend payers in the stock market. People need staples products for their daily lives, which provides a certain level of demand from year to year.

Demand for everyday products remains steady, even during recessions, which makes it an appealing industry for investors looking for consistent dividends.

This is why there are several consumer staples stocks on the Dividend Aristocrats list, which includes 69 companies in the S&P 500 Index, with 25+ consecutive years of dividend increases.

You can download an Excel spreadsheet of all 69 Dividend Aristocrats (with metrics that matter such as dividend yields and price-to-earnings ratios) by clicking the link below:

Disclaimer: Sure Dividend is not affiliated with S&P Global in any way. S&P Global owns and maintains The Dividend Aristocrats Index. The information in this article and downloadable spreadsheet is based on Sure Dividend’s own review, summary, and analysis of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) and other sources, and is meant to help individual investors better understand this ETF and the index upon which it is based. None of the information in this article or spreadsheet is official data from S&P Global. Consult S&P Global for official information.

Each year, we review all Dividend Aristocrats individually. The next stock in the series is The Clorox Company (CLX). Clorox has raised its dividend for 48 years in a row.

This article will provide an in-depth review of Clorox’s business model and future outlook.

Business Overview

Clorox started over 100 years ago, with its namesake liquid bleach debuting in 1913. Today, it is a global manufacturer of consumer and professional products that collectively span a wide variety of uses and customers.

The company produces annual revenue in excess of $7 billion and sells its products in over 100 markets.

The company has a highly diverse set of businesses with myriad brands and products within each, providing Clorox with huge global scale.

The company’s largest segment is health and wellness, which is part of the core Cleaning segment. However, Clorox is much more than a cleaner company as it produces food, pet products, charcoal, and various other brands.

The Household segment includes the Glad, Kingsford, Fresh Step, and Renew Life brands. Cleaning products include Clorox, Pine-Sol, and the Clorox Commercial Solutions businesses.

Lifestyle brands include Hidden Valley, Burt’s Bees, and Brita. Lastly, the International segment sells Clorox’s brands around the world.

Clorox posted first quarter earnings on November 3rd, 2025, and results were better than expected on both the top and bottom lines.

Adjusted earnings-per-share came to 85 cents, which was seven cents ahead of estimates. Revenue was down almost 19% year-over-year to $1.43 billion, but did at least beat estimates by $30 million.

Sales were down primarily due to lower shipments related to the company’s ERP transition. Organic sales plunged 17% during the quarter.

The company shipped about two weeks of inventory in the prior quarter to account for this, so it should normalize in the next quarter.

Gross margin came to 41.7% of revenue, down 410 basis points. This was due to higher manufacturing and logistics costs, primarily. Net cash from operations fell 58% to just $93 million.

The company reiterated guidance for this year despite the weak quarter. We’ve cut our estimate to $6.00 in adjusted earnings-per-share on yet another weak quarter in a string of such results.

Growth Prospects

Looking ahead, Clorox has some levers it can pull to continue its growth. The company continuously innovates with product extensions on its current lineup, such as flavors and cross-branding.

It has done those things for a long time and will continue to do so in order to stay competitive.

It is also focusing its mergers and acquisitions on growing companies, focused in the US, and margin-accretive. The company wants to boost domestic growth and margins through acquisitions.

Margin expansion is another longer-term goal for the company.

Clorox sees potential in rebuilding its margins through pricing actions, cost savings, and optimizing its supply chain over the long term.

Clorox is also taking a prudent approach by buying companies with a better margin profile than its existing portfolio, which boosts revenue and margins simultaneously.

We see Clorox producing 5% earnings-per-share growth annually in the coming years as conditions normalize under the assumption that 2026 is likely to be a trough for earnings.

Clorox continues to buy small amounts of growth while focusing on cost savings and reducing the float.

Margins finished last year very strongly, with pricing increases and cost savings combining to boost profitability. We note continued strength in organic sales as a key driver of earnings.

Competitive Advantages & Recession Performance

Clorox has multiple competitive advantages. First, it holds a tremendously strong brand portfolio. As previously mentioned, Clorox products enjoy high market share across the portfolio.

Clorox retains its high industry position through advertising and spends very heavily to maintain that position.

Product marketing is a necessity for consumer products manufacturers and Clorox spends ~10% of its revenue on this each year.

Another advantage of Clorox’s business model is that its products are used by millions of people each day, both in good and bad economies.

There will always be a certain demand for household cleaning products and food, even if the economy is downturned. This allows the company to remain profitable during recessions.

Indeed, Clorox is a strong example of a defensive stock. Its earnings-per-share through the Great Recession are shown below:

2007 earnings-per-share of $3.23
2008 earnings-per-share of $3.24 (0.3% increase)
2009 earnings-per-share of $3.81 (18% increase)
2010 earnings-per-share of $4.24 (11% increase)

As you can see, Clorox increased earnings-per-share each year throughout the recession, including double-digit earnings growth in 2009 and 2010.

Clorox also performed very well during the coronavirus pandemic, as its products saw much higher demand as consumers spent much more time at home.

This demonstrates the company has a very recession-resistant business model and a high level of safety.

Valuation & Expected Returns

We expect Clorox to generate earnings-per-share of $6.00 for fiscal 2025. Based on this, CLX shares trade for a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.2x. This is above our estimate of fair value, which is 20 times earnings.

Therefore, the stock seems undervalued. An expanding P/E multiple could expand annual returns by 1.9%.

Shareholder returns will be further boosted by future earnings-per-share growth, which we estimate at 5% per year.

Finally, Clorox’s 4.5% dividend yield will add to shareholder returns. This leads to total expected returns of 10.5% per year over the next five years.

This is a decent expected rate of return and warrants a hold rating at this time.

Final Thoughts

Clorox is a reliable dividend stock. The company has a leadership position across its product markets, with potential for some growth.

The company should be able to continue its four-decade-long streak of annual dividend raises regardless of the overall economic climate. This makes it a consistent dividend stock for risk-averse income investors.

Thus, the stock is a hold, and investors interested in total return potential could pick up some shares at today’s price.

Additionally, the following Sure Dividend databases contain the most reliable dividend growers in our investment universe:

The Dividend Champions: Dividend stocks with 25+ years of dividend increases, including those that may not qualify as Dividend Aristocrats.
The Dividend Kings: considered to be the ultimate dividend growth stocks, the Dividend Kings list is comprised of stocks with 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases

If you’re looking for stocks with unique dividend characteristics, consider the following Sure Dividend databases:

The major domestic stock market indices are another solid resource for finding investment ideas. Sure Dividend compiles the following stock market databases and updates them monthly: