High U.S. dollar weighs on Tupperware

Article Excerpt

TUPPERWARE BRANDS CORP. $58 (New York symbol TUP; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 50.4 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.tupperwarebrands.com) makes household goods, mainly plastic food and beverage containers, as well as cosmetics and fragrances. In the three months ended September 26, 2015, Tupperware’s sales fell 11.5%, to $521.0 million from $588.7 million a year earlier. Overseas markets supplied 73% of Tupperware’s sales, so if you exclude the negative impact of the high U.S. dollar, sales rose 7%. Earnings declined 12.2%, to $0.79 a share from $0.90. For all of 2015, the company expects its sales to rise 4% to 5%, along with earnings of $4.39 to $4.44 a share, excluding exchange rates. The stock trades at 13.1 times the midpoint of that range, which is reasonable in light of Tupperware’s large international operations. The $2.72 dividend seems safe and yields 4.7%. Tupperware is still…