Despite challenges, their dividends look safe

Article Excerpt

These two foodmakers continue to raise their selling prices to offset rising input costs. However, price hikes could prompt consumers to switch to cheaper generic brands. Even so, the dividends of these food giants still look safe. GENERAL MILLS INC. $64 is a hold. The company (New York symbol GIS; Income-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 581.3 million; Market cap: $37.2 billion; Dividend yield: 3.7%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.generalmills.com) is one of the world’s largest foodmakers. Its top brands include Cheerios (cereal), Pillsbury (baking dough), Progresso (soups and salads) and Blue Buffalo (pet food), which it acquired in April 2018 for $8.0 billion. With the August 2023 payment, General Mills raised your quarterly dividend by 9.3%. Investors now receive $0.59 a share instead of $0.54. The new annual rate of $2.36 yields 3.7%. The company has paid dividends continuously for 124 years. Sales in the fiscal 2024 first quarter, ended August 27, 2023, rose 4.0%, to $4.90 billion from $4.72 billion a year…