Clorox Company (The) (NYSE: CLX) and Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.
Profitability
This table compares Clorox Company (The) and Church & Dwight’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Clorox Company (The) | 11.74% | 190.67% | 15.74% |
| Church & Dwight | 12.39% | 24.21% | 10.72% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Clorox Company (The) and Church & Dwight, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Clorox Company (The) | 0 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2.18 |
| Church & Dwight | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1.82 |
Clorox Company (The) presently has a consensus price target of $126.80, suggesting a potential downside of 5.59%. Church & Dwight has a consensus price target of $51.11, suggesting a potential upside of 3.01%. Given Church & Dwight’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Church & Dwight is more favorable than Clorox Company (The).
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Clorox Company (The) and Church & Dwight’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Clorox Company (The) | $5.97 billion | 2.90 | $1.28 billion | $5.33 | 25.20 |
| Church & Dwight | $3.54 billion | 3.49 | $845.20 million | $1.69 | 29.36 |
Clorox Company (The) has higher revenue and earnings than Church & Dwight. Clorox Company (The) is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Church & Dwight, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility & Risk
Clorox Company (The) has a beta of 0.4, indicating that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Church & Dwight has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Clorox Company (The) pays an annual dividend of $3.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Church & Dwight pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Clorox Company (The) pays out 63.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Church & Dwight pays out 45.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Clorox Company (The) has increased its dividend for 39 consecutive years and Church & Dwight has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Clorox Company (The) is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
70.3% of Clorox Company (The) shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.1% of Church & Dwight shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Clorox Company (The) shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of Church & Dwight shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Clorox Company (The) beats Church & Dwight on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Clorox Company (The)
The Clorox Company is a manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products. The Company sells its products primarily through mass retail outlets, e-commerce channels, wholesale distributors and medical supply distributors. The Company operates through four segments: Cleaning, Household, Lifestyle and International. Its Cleaning segment consists of laundry, home care and professional products marketed and sold in the United States. Its Household segment consists of charcoal, cat litter and plastic bags, wraps and container products marketed and sold in the United States. Its Lifestyle segment consists of food products, water-filtration systems and filters, and natural personal care products marketed and sold in the United States. Its International segment consists of products sold outside the United States. It markets some of the consumer brand names, such as namesake bleach and cleaning products, Pine-Sol cleaners, Liquid-Plumr clog removers and Kingsford charcoal.
About Church & Dwight
Church & Dwight Co., Inc. develops, manufactures and markets a range of household, personal care and specialty products. The Company’s segments include Consumer Domestic, Consumer International and Specialty Products Division (SPD). The Company also sells specialty products to industrial customers and distributors. The Consumer Domestic segment includes various brands, as well as other household and personal care products, such as KABOOM cleaning products, ARRID antiperspirant, CLOSE-UP and AIM toothpastes and SIMPLY SALINE nasal saline moisturizer. The Consumer International segment markets a range of personal care products, household and over-the-counter products in international markets, including Canada, France, China, Australia, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Brazil. The Company’s SPD segment is a producer of sodium bicarbonate, which it sells together with other specialty inorganic chemicals for various industrial, institutional, medical and food applications.
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