When done correctly, income investing can help investors be less panicked through volatile financial markets -- as we're experiencing now -- knowing there's a stream of dividends coming to help pay their living expenses.
With at least 50 consecutive years of dividend growth under their belts, Dividend Kings are the gold standard of consistency to income investing. Snack foods and beverage giant PepsiCo (PEP -2.40%) is a Dividend King that looks like a convincing pick for dividend growth investors now. Here's why.
PepsiCo flexed its pricing power
PepsiCo's product portfolio boasts numerous brands that are well-known not just in the U.S. but throughout the world. These brands include the sports drink Gatorade, the eponymous Pepsi-Cola, and Lay's potato chips. With this in mind, it's no surprise that PepsiCo's products are enjoyed over one billion times a day in 200-plus countries and territories all over the planet.
PepsiCo shared its especially pleasing results for the third quarter ended Sep. 3 earlier this month. The company recorded $22 billion in net revenue during the quarter, which was 8.8% higher than the year-ago period. What was behind the snack and beverage behemoth's tremendous net revenue growth in the quarter?
PepsiCo's price hikes and strategy toward optimizing its revenue per liter or kilo of product paid off for the quarter. These actions led to 17% higher net revenue during the third quarter. Because of how set consumers are in their routines of consuming PepsiCo's products, this only resulted in a 1% total volume decline in the quarter.
And the only reason that volume decreased for the quarter was due to the 10% dip in European volumes linked to the company's discontinuation of operations in Russia. This also explains how PepsiCo's divestitures from the region led to a 4% headwind in net revenue during the quarter. Finally, a robust U.S. dollar resulted in a foreign currency translation headwind of 3% in the third quarter. These factors show how the company's organic revenue growth was 16% while its actual net revenue growth was materially lower at 8.8% for the quarter.
PepsiCo generated $1.97 in non-GAAP (adjusted) diluted earnings per share (EPS) during the quarter, which was up 10.1% year over year. The company's tight cost control propelled its non-GAAP net margin 14 basis points higher to 12.4%, which is how adjusted diluted EPS growth outpaced net revenue growth in the quarter.
Image source: Getty Images.
A dividend showing no signs of losing its fizz
PepsiCo's 2.7% dividend yield is significantly above the S&P 500 index's 1.8% yield. And the company appears to be well positioned to build on its 50-year track record of dividend growth.
This is because it is projected that PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio will come in around 67% for the current fiscal year. That leaves enough capital for the company to expand its business and pay down debt. Along with the 8.2% annual adjusted diluted EPS growth that analysts are anticipating through the next five years, this is why I expect at least 7% annual dividend growth from PepsiCo.
The premium valuation is well-deserved
PepsiCo is a wonderful business. As you'd expect, this rarely comes cheap for investors looking to buy shares in the company.
PepsiCo's forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 24 is on par with the non-alcoholic beverage industry's average multiple of 23.6. Considering that PepsiCo is one of the few Dividend Kings in its industry, that's arguably a more than fair premium to pay for the stock. This cements the case that PepsiCo is a buy hiding in plain sight for dividend growth investors.
