Clorox (CLX) Competitors

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

Do analysts rate CL or CLX?

Colgate-Palmolive presently has a consensus price target of $101.16, suggesting a potential upside of 12.95%. Clorox has a consensus price target of $158.21, suggesting a potential upside of 0.51%. Given Colgate-Palmolive's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Colgate-Palmolive is more favorable than Clorox.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Colgate-Palmolive	1 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Clorox	4 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.80

Which has more volatility & risk, CL or CLX?

Colgate-Palmolive has a beta of 0.44, suggesting that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Clorox has a beta of 0.42, suggesting that its share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CL or CLX more profitable?

Colgate-Palmolive has a net margin of 14.38% compared to Clorox's net margin of 6.38%. Colgate-Palmolive's return on equity of 477.77% beat Clorox's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Colgate-Palmolive	14.38%	477.77%	17.98%
Clorox	6.38%	316.87%	15.29%

Does the media refer more to CL or CLX?

In the previous week, Colgate-Palmolive had 17 more articles in the media than Clorox. MarketBeat recorded 40 mentions for Colgate-Palmolive and 23 mentions for Clorox. Colgate-Palmolive's average media sentiment score of 1.62 beat Clorox's score of 1.08 indicating that Colgate-Palmolive is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Colgate-Palmolive	36 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Clorox	15 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, CL or CLX?

Colgate-Palmolive has higher revenue and earnings than Clorox. Colgate-Palmolive 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
Colgate-Palmolive	$20.10B	3.62	$2.89B	$3.52	25.44
Clorox	$7.09B	2.73	$280M	$3.66	43.01

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of CL or CLX?

80.4% of Colgate-Palmolive shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.5% of Clorox shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Colgate-Palmolive 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, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor CL or CLX?

Colgate-Palmolive received 199 more outperform votes than Clorox when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 50.64% of users gave Colgate-Palmolive an outperform vote while only 38.87% of users gave Clorox an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Colgate-Palmolive	Outperform Votes 557 50.64%	Underperform Votes 543 49.36%
Clorox	Outperform Votes 358 38.87%	Underperform Votes 563 61.13%

Is CL or CLX a better dividend stock?

Colgate-Palmolive pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Clorox pays an annual dividend of $4.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Colgate-Palmolive pays out 56.8% 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. Colgate-Palmolive has raised its dividend for 62 consecutive years and Clorox has raised its dividend for 47 consecutive years.

Summary

Colgate-Palmolive beats Clorox on 17 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.