5 Dividend Paying Consumer Defensive Stocks

2. Kellogg Company (NYSE:K)

Dividend Yield as of April 1: 3.54%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 31

Kellogg Company (NYSE:K) is a Michigan-based multinational food manufacturing corporation that markets and sells cereals, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, snacks, frozen waffles, and vegetarian foods. Kellogg Company (NYSE:K)’s dividend yield on April 1 came in at 3.54%. 

On February 18, Kellogg Company (NYSE:K) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, in line with previous. The dividend was distributed on March 15, to shareholders of the company as of March 1. 

The company published its fourth quarter earnings on February 10, posting an EPS of $0.83, beating estimates by $0.04. The Q4 revenue came in at $3.42 billion, outperforming analysts’ predictions by $28.64 million. 

UBS analyst Cody Ross initiated coverage of Kellogg Company (NYSE:K) on March 30 with a Buy rating and a $73 price target. The analyst noted that Kellogg Company (NYSE:K)’s consumers are currently “the healthiest they have been in some time”, with record high net worth and increasing wages. In this macro environment, the analyst prefers companies with greater pricing power. Margin expansion is also driven by investment in innovation and a strong brand equity, he added. 

According to the Q4 database of Insider Monkey, 31 hedge funds were bullish on Kellogg Company (NYSE:K), up from 22 funds in the prior quarter. Renaissance Technologies is the biggest shareholder of the company, with 2.1 million shares worth $139.2 million.