Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, April 13, 2018

Article Excerpt

PROCTER & GAMBLE CO., $78.37, New York symbol PG, is one of the world’s largest makers of household and personal-care goods. Major brands include Tide (laundry detergent), Pampers (diapers), Gillette (razors) and Crest (toothpaste). Starting with the May 2018 payment, the company will raise its quarterly dividend by 4.0%, to $0.7172 a share from $0.6896. The new annual rate of $2.87 yields 3.7%. Procter has paid dividends for 128 years and has increased its payout annually for the past 62. Partly due to pressure from activist investor Nelson Peltz—his firm Trian Partners owns 1% of Procter—the company continues to cut costs. Between fiscal 2012 and 2016 (fiscal years end June 30), the company saved a total of $10 billion. It now aims to save a further $10 billion between 2017 and 2021. To put that target in perspective, Procter earned $10.7 billion, or $3.92 a share, in fiscal 2017. The company’s dividend payout has now grown an average of 3.6% annually over the…