Dividend yield still high for Kraft

Article Excerpt

KRAFT HEINZ CO. $31 (Nasdaq symbol KHC; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $37.2 billion; Dividend yield: 5.2%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Average; www.kraftheinzcompany.com) recently wrote down the value of its Heinz ketchup and Oscar Meyer meats brands by a total of $15.4 billion due to slowing sales. That prompted the company to cut its quarterly dividend by 36.5%, to $0.40 a share from $0.63. The new annual rate of $1.60 nonetheless yields a high 5.2%. As well, Kraft Heinz recently discovered errors related to the timing of payments to some of its suppliers. As a result, it had to reduce its previously reported earnings by $0.05 a share for 2017 to $3.50, and by $0.02 a share in 2016 to $3.31. Kraft Heinz is still a hold. hold…