Strong brands buoy this dividend

Article Excerpt

PROCTER & GAMBLE CO. $146 is a buy. The consumer products giant (New York symbol PG; Income-Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 2.4 billion; Market cap: $350.4 billion; Dividend yield: 2.5%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.pg.com) raised your quarterly dividend with the May 2022 payment, to $0.9133 a share, up 5.0% from $0.8698. The new annual rate of $3.65 yields 2.5%. Procter has increased its payout annually for the past 66 years. In its fiscal 2022 fourth quarter, ended June 30, 2022, Procter’s sales improved 3.0%, to $19.51 billion from $18.95 billion a year earlier. That’s largely because the company raised its selling prices to cover rising input costs. Earnings per share rose 7.1%, to $1.21 from $1.13. Earnings per share in fiscal 2023 will likely rise 2% to $5.93 a share. The stock trades at 24.6 times that estimate. That’s a reasonable p/e as Procter’s strong brands let it pass along higher costs to customers. Procter & Gamble is a buy. buy…