Lower costs spur Tupperware

Article Excerpt

TUPPERWARE BRANDS CORP. $60 (New York symbol TUP; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 50.9 million; Market cap: $3.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 4.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.tupperwarebrands.com) makes household goods such as plastic containers for food, beverages, cosmetics and fragrances. It sells these products through 3.2 million independent dealers. That network keeps its distribution costs down. Due to poor sales, the company plans to close its Beauticontrol business, which sells skin-care and cosmetic products in North America. That operation accounts for just 2% of its overall sales. Tupperware also continues to make progress with its plan to improve efficiency. Excluding unusual items, the company expects its earnings for all of 2017 will rise from $4.39 a share in 2016 to $4.71 in 2017. The stock trades at just 12.7 times that forecast. Tupperware is a buy. buy…