Their dividends look safe despite health kick

Article Excerpt

KRAFT HEINZ CO. $80 (Nasdaq symbol KHC, Conservative- Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $96.0 billion; Dividend yield: 3.1%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.kraftheinzcompany.com) makes condiments (such as Heinz Ketchup) as well as other packaged foods. These include Velveeta and Philadelphia Cream Cheese, processed meats (such as Oscar Meyer wieners) and Maxwell House coffee. With the September 2017 payment, Kraft Heinz increased its quarterly dividend by 4.2%. The new annual rate of $2.50 yields 3.1%. In the three months ended September 30, 2017, sales rose 0.7%, to $6.31 billion from $6.27 billion a year earlier. Sales in the U.S. (which supplied 69% of total sales) fell 0.4%. That offset higher sales in the rest of the world. The company continues to cut costs, mainly by closing plants. If you disregard all unusual items, earnings per share in the latest quarter were unchanged from a year earlier at $0.83 a share. Kraft Heinz will probably try to spur…