Updating Our High-Growth Payers: Cisco Systems Inc.

Article Excerpt

CISCO SYSTEMS INC. $49 is a buy. The company (Nasdaq symbol CSCO; High-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 4.2 billion; Market cap: $205.8 billion; Dividend yield: 3.1%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.cisco.com) makes hardware and software to link and manage computer networks. Starting with the April 2022 payment, the company raised your quarterly dividend by 2.7%. Investors now receive $0.38 a share instead of $0.37. The new annual rate of $1.52 yields 3.1%. Moreover, Cisco has added $15 billion to its share repurchase authorization. It can now buy back up to $18 billion of its shares, which is equal to 9% of its market cap. The company continues to see strong demand for its products as businesses upgrade their computer systems now that many of their employees are working remotely. In its fiscal 2022 second quarter, ended January 29, 2022, revenue rose 6.4%, to $12.72 billion from $11.96 billion a year earlier. Earnings, excluding unusual items, improved 6.3%, to $0.84 a share from $0.79. Cisco is…