68 years of rising dividends

Article Excerpt

PROCTER & GAMBLE CO. $163 is a buy. The stock (New York symbol PG; Income-Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 2.4 billion; Market cap: $391.2 billion; Dividend yield: 2.5%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.pg.com) is one of the world’s largest makers of household and personal-care goods. With the May 2024 payment, Procter will raise its quarterly dividend by 7.0%. Investors will receive $1.0065 a share instead of $0.9407. The annual rate of $4.03 yields 2.5%. Procter has paid shareholder dividends for 134 years and has increased its payout annually for the past 68 years. Procter expects its sales in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, excluding businesses it bought and sold and currency rate movements, will rise between 4% and 5%. The company also sees its earnings for the year rising between 10% and 11%. Based on that new range, it should earn between $6.49 and $6.55 a share. The stock trades at a still-reasonable 25.0 times the midpoint of that range. Procter & Gamble is…