Add portfolio stability with these seven

Article Excerpt

Food processors like the seven companies we analyze below add stability to any portfolio. That’s because they’ve built brands that have strong customer loyalty and produce steady, predictable revenue streams. These seven firms’ strong brands are also helping them expand in developing markets, such as Asia and Latin America. These seven stocks trade at reasonable multiples to earnings, and have long histories of rising dividends. We see all seven as buys for long-term gains. KRAFT FOODS INC. $28 (New York symbol KFT; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.5 billion; Market cap: $42.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 4.1%; WSSF Rating: Above Average) is the world’s second-largest food company after Switzerland-based Nestle S.A. Its leading brands include Kraft cheese, Maxwell House coffee, Nabisco cookies and Oscar Meyer meats. Kraft is buying U.K.-based Cadbury plc (New York symbol CBY). Cadbury is a leading maker of confectioneries, including chocolate, candy and gum. Buying Cadbury will help Kraft sell more of its foods in…