We're at the end of the first earnings season of 2023, and like any earnings season, this one featured a clutch of dividend raises. Two of the more famous companies declaring hikes were beverage and snack giant PepsiCo (PEP 0.56%) and logistics mainstay United Parcel Service (UPS -1.14%). Here's the skinny on both dividend raises and whether they help support the case for buying these stocks now.
1. PepsiCo
PepsiCo is one of the market's most recently crowned Dividend Kings, the tiny group of stocks that have increased their dividends at least once annually for a minimum of 50 years in a row. The company reached that status in early 2022 and maintained it with a fresh dividend raise at the beginning of February. The company's new quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share represents a 7% increase over the prior one.
PepsiCo is one of those reliable operators that manage to land well in the black in nearly every quarter, throwing off billions of dollars in cash as it does so. The company has a strong lineup of both beverage and snack brands. The former include Pepsi and its variations, of course, plus Gatorade sports beverages and Tropicana Juices. The latter feature top munchies such as Lay's chips, Doritos, and even Quaker Oats.
In other words, there's probably at least one PepsiCo product waiting to be consumed in your pantry or fridge right now. That kind of ubiquity in both the home and on store shelves means volume and strong cash flow. As a result, PepsiCo always seems to post encouraging results loaded with growth.
In 2022, for example, PepsiCo's revenue rose 9% and its "core constant currency" -- essentially non-GAAP (adjusted) -- per share net income improved by 11%. The company is expecting a more modest 2023 with those growth figures coming in at 6% and 8%, respectively. All are good rates for a generally steady dividend stock.
PepsiCo's fizzy new dividend will be paid on March 31 to investors of record as of March 3. At the most recent closing stock price, it would yield 2.6%.
2. United Parcel Service
Logistics titan UPS doesn't have the dividend raise streak of Pepsi and the other Kings, but it's no slouch either. At the end of January, for the 14th year in a row, the company's board of directors approved an increase to its quarterly dividend (by 7% to $1.62). On top of that, the board greenlighted a new $5 billion share repurchase program, replacing an existing initiative.
Like PepsiCo, UPS manages to keep the growth train running despite being a big and long-established operator in its industry.
The seemingly unstoppable rise of e-commerce has helped, as it's now standard to buy with a few clicks of a mouse and have the goods delivered to your doorstep. Although the company's partnership with sector giant Amazon isn't as extensive as it once was, the retailer still relies on the logistics specialist to get many of its packages where they need to go.
And as much of a behemoth as Amazon is, there are many other corners of the economy UPS can access to keep its fundamentals on the rise. Two in particular that it's targeting are the healthcare industry and small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs).
The company's revenue swelled in the coronavirus-infected year of 2021. Yet it says something about management's skill that the company still lifted its top line when the closures ended, and folks started to emerge from their homes. 2022's revenue was over $100 billion, up from the 2021 tally of $97.2 million. Net income dipped by 10% but was still solidly in the black at $11.5 billion. That's more than an 11% net margin, a very respectable showing.
United Parcel Service's dividend raise kicks in with the first $1.62 per share payout on March 10 for shareholders of record as of Feb. 21. That would give the stock a 3.6% yield at present.
