by Ian Cooper

With flu season nearing, it’s time to get flu shots and try your best to avoid germs.

As anyone with a respiratory system will tell you, flu season isn’t fun.

However, as any investor holding pharmacy and flu-related, coughing-sniffling remedy stocks will tell you it’s one of the best times of the year.

For the 2023-2024 season, the CDC estimated 40 million illnesses, 470,000 hospitalizations, and 28,000 deaths. For the 2024-2025 season, the CDC estimated 9.3 million to 41 million illnesses, 120,000 to 710,000 hospitalizations, and 6,300 to 52,000 deaths. For the 2025-2026 season, cases are mounting.

In fact, the current flu season is off to a rough start.

According to ABC News:

“The CDC estimates there have been at least ​7.5 million illnesses, ​81,000 hospitalizations and ​3,100 deaths from flu so far this season. ​Five more pediatric deaths were reported this week, bringing the total to ​eight this season.”

“At least 20 states are now seeing ‘very high’ respiratory illness activity including Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee.”

It’s just one of the many reasons to consider dividend-paying stocks like Clorox (CLX).

With a yield of 4.9%, oversold shares of CLX are a bargain at $101. For one, going back to 2021, CLX tends to run higher around October.

In October 2022, CLX ran from about $141 to just over $158. In 2023, CLX ran from about $114 to $146. In 2024, CLX ran from about $153 to $163. In 2025, it didn’t do as well as it usually does, which isn’t typical.

However, with CLX severely oversold, investors may want to take advantage of that, while collecting yield. Another strong flu-season stock to consider is CVS Health (CVS), which also has a history of running ahead of flu season.

In October 2021, for example, CVS ran from about $72 to $93. In 2022, CVS ran from about $78 to $93. In 2023, CVS ran from about $63 to nearly $74. In 2024, it ran from about $58 to just over $64 a share. For 2025, the CVS stock is already climbing, but we expect for it to rocket higher as we get deeper into flu season.

CVS also yields 3.41% and just paid a dividend of just over 66 cents per share on November 3 to shareholders of record as of October 23.