Asset sales improve their long-term prospects

Article Excerpt

These two leading packaged foodmakers continue to sell parts of their product portfolios in response to changing consumer tastes. These moves should spur their long-term growth and dividends. Note—we prefer Kraft Heinz for your new buying. GENERAL MILLS INC. $74 is a hold. The company (New York symbol GIS; Income-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 555.2 million; Market cap: $41.1 billion; Dividend yield: 3.2%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.generalmills.com) is one of the world’s largest foodmakers. Its top brands include Cheerios (cereal), Pillsbury (baking dough), Progresso (soups and salads) and Blue Buffalo (pet food), which it acquired in April 2018 for $8.0 billion. With the August 2024 payment, General Mills raised your quarterly dividend by 1.7%. Investors receive $0.60 a share instead of $0.59. The new annual rate of $2.40 yields 3.2%. The company has paid dividends continuously for 124 years. Higher food prices continue to prompt cost-conscious consumers to switch to private label brands. As a result, General Mills’ sales in its fiscal 2025…