Poised to Gain From Top Brands, Cheap Oil

Article Excerpt

Newell and Tupperware have fallen sharply in the past few months on fears that weaker consumer confidence will hurt their sales and earnings. However, they own some of the world’s best-known brands, and this is helping them expand overseas. They both use oil to make their products, so they also stand to gain from falling oil prices. This should let them continue to pay above-average dividends. NEWELL RUBBERMAID INC. $9.21 (New York symbol NWL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 277.2 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; WSSF Rating: Average) makes a wide variety of household products, such as plastic storage bins, tools and pens. International markets account for 30% of its revenue. The company’s total term debt was $2.9 billion as of December 31, 2008, which is a high 110% of its market cap. Of that total, $752.7 million is due within one year. Newell generated $546.6 million in cash flow in 2008, so it should…