The summer heat is bringing sweltering temperatures, trips to the beach, and long stretches inside air-conditioned rooms. What it's not bringing is a big clutch of dividend raises. These tend to happen during earnings seasons, and we're between two of them right now.
Still, there are an awful lot of income stocks in the market, and inevitably a few will declare out-of-season dividend increases. Let's take a gander at two famous names in the retail industry who just did so: Target (TGT +1.45%) and Kroger (KR +0.92%).
NYSE: TGT
Key Data Points
1. Target
Target is one of the market's very rare Dividend Kings -- S&P 500 stocks that have raised their payouts annually for a minimum of 50 years. The large retailer just raise its dividend again -- modestly compared to some of its previous lifts. It hiked its quarterly payout by a shade under 2% to $1.10 per share.
That was to be expected as Target's recent results haven't been as impressive as those of past years. Revenue growth is sluggish these days, while net income fell on a year-over-year basis in the company's most recently reported quarter.
Management blames inflation and the higher interest rates of recent times, a theme common to other businesses lately. Unimpressive development in fundamentals hasn't inspired confidence among investors, and Target is not the popular stock it once was.
This, however, presents a rare chance to get a solid, top-shelf retailer at a discount. Target has had relatively unimpressive quarters before, and it has always managed to bounce back. The company is well-placed as a mid-market retailer in the sweet spot between discounters and higher-end goods purveyors. Its margins are typically high for retail.
And it's poised for a comeback. Analysts tracking the stock are expecting a 5% slump in earnings this fiscal year (2024), but that should change dramatically for 2025, with a nearly 24% improvement. Meanwhile, the stock is priced attractively at a PEG ratio of 0.26; that metric hasn't been this low in more than a decade.
Target's freshly raised dividend will be paid on Sept. 10 to investors of record as of Aug. 16. At the company's latest closing share price, it would yield 3.3%.
NYSE: KR
Key Data Points
2. Kroger
Another retail sector mainstay, supermarket chain operator Kroger has been generous on the dividend raise front. In June, it upped its quarterly distribution by 12% to $0.29 per share.
The company is a regular payer and lifter. It tends to declare dividend increases around this time of year, and they are usually generous. 2022's edition clocked in at 24% over the previous payout, and the one before that saw a 17% improvement.
Kroger has a solid foundation for a good dividend stock. Its margins are thin, a typical dynamic for the retail sector in general and supermarkets in particular; yet the company consistently manages to squeeze out a profit, and generate plenty of cash as it does so.
What helps is its extremely wide customer base. Every day, more than 11 million customers visit the roughly 2,800 stores Kroger has under its various brand names. The robust cash flow this creates gives Kroger the scope to fund its better-than-average-yielding dividend. The payout ratio stands at barely over 28%, meaning that Kroger has more than enough cash at its disposal to fund those constant and generous raises.
One issue giving investors pause these days is its looming acquisition of peer Albertsons. The deal, valued at nearly $25 billion, was announced last October, but has run into opposition from politicians and labor unions (among others). However, there's surely scope for concession and compromise, and the buyout would make Kroger an even more powerful cash-generator.
Kroger is set to hand out its new dividend on Sept. 1 to stockholders of record as of Aug. 15. It yields a theoretical 2.5% at the current share price.
