Dividend increase: PepsiCo

Article Excerpt

PEPSICO INC. $128 (Nasdaq symbol PEP; Conservative-Growth Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $179.2 billion; Dividend yield: 3.0%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.pepsico.com) is the world’s second-largest soft-drink maker after Coca-Cola. Its other brands include Frito-Lay snack foods, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana fruit juices and Quaker Oats cereals. Starting with its June 2019 payment, the company will raise its quarterly dividend by 3.0%, to $0.955 a share from $0.9275. The new annual rate of $3.82 yields 3.0%. PepsiCo has now increased the annual rate each year for the past 47 years. The stock trades at 23.2 times the $5.52 a share that PepsiCo will likely earn in 2019. That’s a high multiple as increasingly health-conscious consumers cut their intake of sugary drinks and salty snacks. PepsiCo is still a hold. hold…