Updating Pfizer Inc., United Technologies Corp. and TransCanada Corp.

Article Excerpt

PFIZER INC. $36 (New York symbol PFE; Income- Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 6.1 billion; Market cap: $219.6 billion; Dividend yield: 3.6%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.pzifer.com) is one of the world’s leading prescription drugmakers. The company last raised its quarterly dividend with the March 2017 payment. Investors now receive $0.32 a share, up 6.7% from $0.30. The new annual rate of $1.28 yields 3.6%. Pfizer is now conducting a strategic review of its consumer products business. That operation makes a variety of over-the-counter treatments, including Advil (pain relief), Centrum (vitamins) and Robitussin (cough syrup). In 2016, revenue from its consumer products business totalled $3.4 billion. That’s equal to 6% of Pfizer’s total revenue of $52.8 billion. Depending on the results of its review, Pfizer may opt to sell all or part of the consumer business or spin it off as a separate firm. It expects to complete the process in 2018. Whatever the outcome, the review helps draw…