New products should continue to fuel Procter

Article Excerpt

Investors continue to benefit from Procter’s 2014 plan to shed about 100 of its less-profitable brands (it now has around 65 core brands). Sales also jumped as the COVID-19 pandemic spurred demand for cleaning and hygiene products. The company now plans to increase its spending on new products, which should let it maintain its high market share and drive your future gains. PROCTER & GAMBLE CO. $144 is a buy. The stock (New York symbol PG; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 2.4 billion; Market cap: $345.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.6; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.pg.com) gives you a stake in one of the world’s largest makers of household and personal-care goods. The company has five main business lines: fabric and home-care products such as Tide laundry detergent (34% of fiscal 2021 sales, 31% of earnings); baby, feminine and family-care goods, including Pampers diapers (25%, 25%); beauty items such as Head and Shoulders shampoo (19%, 22%); health-care items…