Tupperware frees up cash for growth

Article Excerpt

TUPPERWARE BRANDS CORP. $31 (New York symbol TUP; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 48.6 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 3.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.tupperwarebrands.com) makes consumer goods such as plastic food and beverage containers, and cosmetics and fragrances. It sells these products through 3.1 million independent dealers; that keeps its distribution costs down. The company will now cut its dividend by 60.3%, to $0.27 a share from $0.68. The new annual rate of $1.08 yields 3.5%. Tupperware made the cut to free up cash for new investments in its businesses. It plans to invest $100 million through 2022 on developing products and expanding its salesforce. The company will also streamline its operations. It expects these initiatives will save $50 million a year. That’s in addition to Tupperware’s current restructuring plan, which includes job cuts and plant closures. It should save $35 million a year by the end of 2019. The company now expects to earn between $4.06 and…