Procter’s narrower focus pays off

Article Excerpt

PROCTER & GAMBLE CO. $133 is a buy. The stock (New York symbol PG; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 2.5 billion; Market cap: $332.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.4; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.pg.com) gives you a stake in one of the world’s largest makers of household and personal-care goods. The company continues to benefit from its 2014 plan to shed about 100 of its less-important brands. That lets it better focus on its remaining 65 or so core brands. At the same time, it spends a combined 13% of its sales on developing new products and its marketing. Those outlays hurt current profits, but let Procter quickly respond to changing consumer preferences. Since it implemented its new strategy, Procter’s shares have gained over 60%. The company also continues to reward investors with annual dividend increases; the current annual rate of $3.16 a share yields 2.4%. Procter has increased that rate each year for the past 64 years, and will likely…