Clorox (CLX) Competitors

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) and Clorox (NYSE:CLX) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, media sentiment, dividends, analyst recommendations, community ranking, institutional ownership and profitability.

Do analysts rate KMB or CLX?

Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus target price of $143.64, indicating a potential upside of 4.89%. Clorox has a consensus target price of $159.62, indicating a potential upside of 12.56%. Given Clorox's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Clorox is more favorable than Kimberly-Clark.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kimberly-Clark	2 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
Clorox	3 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.86

Is KMB or CLX more profitable?

Kimberly-Clark has a net margin of 12.69% compared to Clorox's net margin of 6.38%. Clorox's return on equity of 316.87% beat Kimberly-Clark's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kimberly-Clark	12.69%	201.43%	14.45%
Clorox	6.38%	316.87%	15.29%

Does the media refer more to KMB or CLX?

In the previous week, Kimberly-Clark had 9 more articles in the media than Clorox. MarketBeat recorded 27 mentions for Kimberly-Clark and 18 mentions for Clorox. Kimberly-Clark's average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat Clorox's score of 1.35 indicating that Kimberly-Clark is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Kimberly-Clark	24 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Clorox	14 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings and valuation, KMB or CLX?

Kimberly-Clark has higher revenue and earnings than Clorox. Kimberly-Clark is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Clorox, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kimberly-Clark	$20.06B	2.26	$2.55B	$7.55	18.14
Clorox	$7.17B	2.44	$280M	$3.66	38.74

Is KMB or CLX a better dividend stock?

Kimberly-Clark pays an annual dividend of $5.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Clorox pays an annual dividend of $4.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Kimberly-Clark pays out 66.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Clorox pays out 133.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Kimberly-Clark has increased its dividend for 54 consecutive years and Clorox has increased its dividend for 47 consecutive years. Kimberly-Clark is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of KMB or CLX?

76.3% of Kimberly-Clark shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.5% of Clorox shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Kimberly-Clark shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Clorox shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility & risk, KMB or CLX?

Kimberly-Clark has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its stock price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Clorox has a beta of 0.45, suggesting that its stock price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor KMB or CLX?

Kimberly-Clark received 192 more outperform votes than Clorox when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 49.64% of users gave Kimberly-Clark an outperform vote while only 38.87% of users gave Clorox an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Kimberly-Clark	Outperform Votes 550 49.64%	Underperform Votes 558 50.36%
Clorox	Outperform Votes 358 38.87%	Underperform Votes 563 61.13%

Summary

Kimberly-Clark beats Clorox on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.