Let These Dividend Stocks Fatten Your Portfolio

When U.S. investors go hunting for stocks to buy, for the most part they tend to stay within the domestic market. Some may venture into the realm of an American Depository Receipt (ADR), which is a negotiable certificate issued by a U.S. depository bank representing a specified number of shares investment in a foreign company's stock. An ADR trades on U.S. markets, like any other listing, and examples include Alibaba , Nokia , Cemex SAB De CV and JD.com . In addition to ADRs, dividend seeking investors can sometimes find a sweet reward with shares of non-US listed companies as well even though the number and timing of dividend payouts can vary country to country. Recently Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli (which trades over-the-counter as LDSVF and as LISN on the Swiss Exchange) proposed a sweeter payout to shareholders (oh yes, I can hear your eyes rolling at that poor pun), increasing its dividend by 75% to mark its 175th anniversary. That puts the new dividend at roughly $1.85 per registered share for 2019 offers a yield near 2.2% based on the current price for Lindt shares. Lindt has tended to pay an annual dividend composed of two parts -- a yearly dividend and an extraordinary dividend. Breaking the 2020 dividend of about $1.85 down into those buckets, it is comprised of a yearly dividend of about $1.60 and an extraordinary payment of about 37 cents. If you're thinking that's a good deal, it sort of is, but the very nature of how these dividend payments are formulated is rather different than the expected to continue at the same rate nature of U.S. dividends. In 2019, Lindt paid a total dividend of roughly $1.05, a steady increase over the past few years. At a glance that appears to be a rising dividend, which it is in total, however, the extraordinary dividend payments have been bouncing higher and lower each year depending on the underlying strength of Lindt's chocolate business. It's no secret that candy and chocolate companies are facing a shift in consumer preference as people seek healthier snacking, which is leading to sluggish growth for the confectionery industry. Lindt has defied that sluggishness by emphasizing its business in the premium market, which in my book positions it as a a cross between a guilty pleasure and an affordable luxury. This led Lindt to deliver a 6.1% increase in 2019 organic sales and the company sees organic sales growing 5%-7% per year for the next few years. Odds are that means the company's overall dividend payment, yearly plus extraordinary, will continued to trend higher. Should the company's plan hit a snag due to a pickup in that evolving consumer preference or due to an unexpected pricing issue with sugar or cocoa, it would likely result in a lower than expected extraordinary dividend. If you prefer the steadier approach to dividends offered by U.S. companies, and you like the chocolate market there are two other companies to check out. The first is Dividend Aristocrat, Hershey Company , which has grown its dividends consecutively over the last 31 years and its current annual payout of $3.09 per share offers a yield of 2.0%. The other is Tootsie Roll Industries and don't let the name fool you -- it's not only the company behind Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie pops, but also Dots, Junior Mints, Razzles, Sugar Babies, Sugar Daddy and Charleston Chew. Tootsie is a Dividend King, which means it has been increasing is dividend payment to shareholders consecutively for over 50 years. That's the good news. The not so good news is its dividend yield even after the recent stock market coronavirus-led drubbing is still just a little over 1.0%.

Let These Dividend Stocks Fatten Your Portfolio

Swiss chocolate-maker Lindt & Spruengli and these American candy kings offer something sweet for investors.

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