Our newest holding buys, stores and processes farm crops around the world, turning oilseeds and corn into cooking oils, animal feed, food ingredients and renewable fuel. Its shares carry a beta of 0.61, which means the stock has historically moved about 40% less than the broad market from month to month. For retirees who live on their portfolio income, that calmer price behavior matters almost as much as the dividend itself.
The company makes most of its money on the gap between what it pays farmers for crops and what it earns selling the finished products. Profit per share roughly doubled in its latest quarter. Federal renewable fuel rules lifted demand for soybean oil and widened that processing gap. A recovering food ingredients unit, led by record flavor sales, is now adding a second source of growth.
The outlook still carries real uncertainty. Processing margins for the fourth quarter are largely unlocked, and weather, oil prices and conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East can all move results. Even so, the company has raised its dividend for 54 straight years. It pays out only 37% of expected earnings and carries less debt than its peers.
We have added this stock to the Dividend Protection Stocks Portfolio because its payout rests on a wide earnings cushion, manageable debt and more than half a century of increases. It gives conservative investors a stake in the global food supply chain with a dividend built to hold up when commodity cycles turn.
