Clorox (NYSE:CLX) not only supplies products that keep your clothes clean and fresh but it can also deliver some crisp earnings as well.
The famous seller of bleach -- as well as insecticides, water filters, and bathroom cleaners -- released a statement informing Wall Street that diluted earnings per share will come in between $0.82 and $0.85 for the fourth quarter ending June 30, a reaffirmation of previous predictions. It's also not backing away from its guidance for earnings for the full year of between $2.52 and $2.55 on a diluted basis. If Clorox does indeed achieve the low end of the full-year range, it would still represent a 13% increase in earnings (the company reported $2.23 in 2003). And I like double-digit increases -- except when it comes to negative things like long-term debt, obviously.
I think every portfolio should have a name like Clorox in it; it's important to have a staunch blue chip that is defensive in nature. Other choices along these lines might be Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP), or Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL). All of these stocks have decent dividend yields, with Clorox's payout currently the best of the bunch.
As Selena Maranjian once intimated, not every investment slot can be taken up by some high-flying Nasdaq entity like Taser (NASDAQ:TASR) or Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX); there must be a logical balance. And even though Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is arguably a stuffy Dow component these days, an investor cannot live by tech alone.
Don't be afraid of taking on shares in an -- yawn! -- old-economy stock. Don't believe me? Feast your eyes on this five-year chart. Not the straight-up spectacle you were expecting? Sure, there were drops and sideways meanderings along the way, but look at how things ended up. Plus, consider all the dollar-cost-averaging and dividend-reinvestment opportunities.
Clorox will always have a spotty quarter or two. That's a given. But it's got brand power, baby, and I think it is well positioned for the future. Still, for another view, see Dave Marino-Nachison's questions for the company back in February.
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Fool contributor Steven Mallas owns none of the stocks mentioned.
