Their strong brands support your dividends

Article Excerpt

These two leading consumer product makers are raising their selling prices to offset higher raw material and other costs. Despite the higher prices, consumers will probably stick with the well-known brands of these giants instead of switching to generic products. That will let both companies keep rewarding shareholders. PROCTER & GAMBLE CO. $158 is a buy. The company (New York symbol PG; Income-Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 2.4 billion; Market cap: $379.2 billion; Dividend yield: 2.2%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.pg.com) is one of the world’s largest makers of household and personal-care goods. Major brands include Tide (laundry detergent), Pampers (diapers), Gillette (razors) and Crest (toothpaste). Starting with the May 2021 payment, Procter raised its quarterly dividend by 10.0%. Investors receive $0.8698 a share instead of $0.7907. The annual rate of $3.48 yields 2.2%. Procter has paid dividends for 131 years, and has increased its payout annually for the past 65 years. Due to supply chain disruptions and rising costs for raw materials and transportation, the…