Resiliency is a key need for investors these days. The pandemic and slowing economy need a certain type of firm to get through the malaise. But this steadfastness doesn’t equate “boring.” With our Best Dividend Stocks List pick in the consumer staples sector, investors can have their cake and eat it too.
Literally.
Our pick is one of the largest snack food and confectioners on the planet. This leadership position in candy, cookies and other snack foods has continued to serve it well throughout the pandemic. Sales of simple luxuries like chocolate bars or popcorn haven’t dwindled throughout the current economic conditions. This has helped our pick to produce strong earnings and keep its dividend humming along while so many other rivals have slashed their payouts.
Our pick has continued to add new organic, natural and healthier snack foods to its arsenal. This includes its latest acquisition of a chocolate brand as well as transitioning classic billion-dollar franchises into new healthier avenues. Thanks to these shifts and a new focus on direct-to-consumer ecommerce, our pick has seen sales rise steadily providing it with a huge runway for future growth – and this is all before the economy returns to normalcy in the upcoming months.
For investors, our consumer staples pick is a prime example of how they can get strong returns with a steady side of growth. Better still, it all comes with strong dividends.
To summarize, here are five reasons why you should own this stock:
- It has a large international portfolio of brands, with sales hitting well over $25 billion for full-year 2020.
- Continued growth during the pandemic, thanks to moves into healthier and natural snack foods.
- New direct-to-consumer e-commerce operations have added to growth during the pandemic.
- Managed to return more than $3 billion to shareholders via dividends and buybacks last year alone!
- It has a healthy payout ratio of 44% and growing yield of 2.3%.
Our Best Dividend Stocks List has 20 of the highest-rated stocks by our proprietary Dividend.com Rating system. Go Premium to find out the entire list.
