Top Dividends From Food and Your Belly (ARKR, EAT, WMK, SVU, SYY, CAG, KO, HNZ, KFT)

Retail

Published: August 2, 2010 8:05 am

Last Updated: April 28, 2020 8:32 am

Dividends and income from your belly… We have decided to start taking some high-yield reviews of key sectors this week now that earnings season is past the half-way mark. Dividends in food via restaurants, grocery chains, producers and even distributors and wholesalers are all easily obtainable for the income investor. If the highest dividends were from large-cap stocks then it was left there. If there was a small micro-cap then we included the outfits down to the closest mid-cap or large-cap or actively traded stocks.

Ark Restaurants Corp. (NASDAQ: ARKR) is a thin volume restaurant trade, with a micro-cap level and one with an active dividend that is very high with a 7.35% yield. This $0.25 per quarter payout is also lower than it was paid from July 2007 to October 2008. At $13.60, the 52-week range is $12.43 to $19.00 and the market cap here is only just shy of $50 million.

Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT) is the next on the list in public chain restaurants with a yield of 3.50%. The owner of Chili’s and other chains has a $1.6 billion market cap after its $15.72 close on Friday, it trades almost 1.8 million shares, and its 52-week range is $12.39 to $21.12. This new highest sector dividend is based upon a recently hiked payout from $0.11 to $0.14 per quarter after having a static dividend since December 2007. The $0.56 annualized payout compares to Fiscal June-2011 earnings estimates of $1.41 EPS from Thomson Reuters, so it has ample dividend coverage.

Weis Markets, Inc. (NYSE: WMK) is an unknown grocery store chain to most, but that is because it is a regional chain in and around Pennsylvania. Its $0.29 per share dividend has been in place since early 2006 and gives off a dividend yield of 3.30%. The $35.85 share price stock trades about 66,000 shares a day and it has a market cap of $964 million and a 52-week range of $30.51 to $38.32.

SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE: SVU) is the highest payout of the larger grocery chains with a 3.20% dividend yield. The owner of Albertson’s, Jewel-Osco, and other grocery chains at $0.088 per quarter has a lower payout than it used to, recently saw a large drop in net income and said its CFO was leaving. At $11.28, its trades over 4 million shares a day and has a market cap of about $2.4 billion; its 52-week range is $10.40 to $17.89.

Sysco Corporation (NYSE: SYY) leads the food distribution and wholesale companies with a 3.20% dividend yield. At $30.97 and an $18+ billion market cap it has a 52-week trading range of $23.41 to $31.99. The $0.25 dividend has been the same for each of the last three quarters and the company has a habit of hiking its payouts each four quarters. Earnings estimates for Fiscal June-2011 are $2.03 EPS from Thomson Reuters.

ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE: CAG) is classified as a packaged food player but in many cases is also considered a large wholesaler per its stock classification. Its market cap is $10.4 billion and the $23.48 share price generates a yield of about 3.4% Its 52-week range is $19.00 to $26.32.

In soft drinks, water, and beverages, The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) takes the lead as having the highest dividend yield at 3.20%. The DJIA component trades at $55.11 and has a 52-week range of $47.42 to $59.45. It’s Coke! What more needs to be said?

Of the large diversified food producers, there was a virtual tie between H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE: HNZ) and Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT). Heinz is the one that recently raised its dividend to $0.45 from $0.42 per quarter and the stock trades with a yield of 4.04% based upon a price of $44.48; its 52-week trading range is $37.30 to $47.84. Kraft Foods has recently changed its business with the Cadbury deal and its $0.29 dividend has been static since Summer-2008. At $29.21, its yield comes to 3.97% and its 52-week range is $25.72 to $31.09.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

The Average American Is Losing Their Savings Every Day (Sponsor)

If you’re like many Americans and keep your money ‘safe’ in a checking or savings account, think again. The average yield on a savings account is a paltry .4% today, and inflation is much higher. Checking accounts are even worse.

Every day you don’t move to a high-yield savings account that beats inflation, you lose more and more value.

But there is good news. To win qualified customers, some accounts are paying 9-10x this national average. That’s an incredible way to keep your money safe, and get paid at the same time. Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other one time cash bonuses, and is FDIC insured.

Click here to see how much more you could be earning on your savings today. It takes just a few minutes and your money could be working for you.