Your first dividend hike since 2016

Article Excerpt

CAMPBELL SOUP CO. $46 is a buy. The company (New York symbol CPB; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 302.9 million; Market cap: $13.9 billion; Dividend yield: 3.2%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.campbellsoupcompany.com) continues to benefit from its strategic plan, which began in 2018. One key part was to sell most of its international and refrigerated-foods businesses. That left Campbell to focus on canned soups, pasta and V8 vegetable juices. It also kept its snack foods operations. They were significantly expanded in March 2018 when the company paid $6.1 billion for snack-foods maker Snyder’s-Lance. Thanks to strong demand for its products as more people eat their meals at home, as well as savings from the Snyder’s-Lance purchase, Campbell just raised your quarterly dividend by 5.7%. With the February 2021 payment, investors now receive $0.37 a share instead of $0.35. The new annual rate of $1.48 yields a solid 3.2%. Campbell Soup is a buy. buy…