They plan to boost gains with healthier snacks

Article Excerpt

These top foodmakers are adjusting their product portfolios to appeal to increasingly health-conscious consumers. That will help protect their dividends, but we feel their immediate outlooks remain cloudy. PEPSICO INC. $139 remains a worthwhile hold. The company (Nasdaq symbol PEP; Conservative-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares o/s: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $194.6 billion; Divd. yield: 3.1%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.pepsico.com) is the world’s second-largest soft-drink maker after Coca-Cola. Its other brands include Frito-Lay snack foods, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana fruit juices and Quaker Oats cereals. With its June 2021 payment, PepsiCo will raise your quarterly dividend by 5.0%, to $1.075 a share from $1.0225. The new annual rate of $4.30 yields 3.1%. PepsiCo has raised its dividend annually for the past 49 years. The company recently paid $3.85 billion for Rockstar Energy Beverages. Its energy drinks feature high caffeine levels. That’s mainly why its sales in the quarter ended December 26, 2020, rose 8.8%, to $22.46 billion from $20.64 billion a year earlier. If…