Decades of dividend hikes cut their risk

Article Excerpt

Despite wide economic swings, these two U.S. companies have raised their annual dividends for decades. That resiliency during good times and bad cuts the risk for investors. PROCTER & GAMBLE CO. $144 is a buy. The stock (New York symbol PG; Income-Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 2.4 billion; Market cap: $345.6 billion; Dividend yield: 2.6%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.pg.com) is one of the world’s largest makers of household and personal-care goods. Procter last raised its quarterly dividend by 2.9% with the May 2023 payment. Investors now receive $0.9407 a share instead of $0.9133. The annual rate of $3.76 yields 2.6%. Procter has paid shareholder dividends for 133 years and has increased its payout annually for the past 67 years. In its fiscal 2024 first quarter, ended September 30, 2023, sales gained 6.1%, to $21.87 billion from $20.61 billion. That gain was mainly because the company raised its prices to offset higher input costs. Excluding one-time items, Procter’s earnings jumped 14.7%, to $4.52 billion from $3.94 billion…