Booster shots good news for Pfizer

Article Excerpt

PFIZER INC. $49 is a buy. The company (New York symbol PFE; Income-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 5.6 billion; Market cap: $274.4 billion; Dividend yield: 3.3%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.pfizer.com) is one of the world’s largest makers of prescription drugs. Its top-selling brands include Eliquis (stroke), Ibrance (breast cancer) and Prevnar (pneumonia). Starting with the March 2022 payment, Pfizer will raise your quarterly dividend by 2.6%. Investors will then receive $0.40 a share instead of $0.39. The new annual rate of $1.60 yields a solid 3.3%. The stock is down 21% from its recent peak of $62 in December 2021. That’s largely due to easing of the current Omicron wave of COVID-19, which could hurt demand for Pfizer’s vaccine. However, it’s likely the U.S. and other countries will continue to promote annual booster shots as protection against future variants. Pfizer is a buy. buy…