Consumer staples dividend payout ratios

43 companies, computed from their own SEC filings. 26 of them answer differently by 20 points or more depending on which basis you divide by.

What ordinary looks like here

On the basis each company’s own filings make applicable, the median consumer staples company pays out 65.1%. Half sit between 39.6% and 80.9%. Across all 532 companies here the median is 41.9% — 23.2 points more than the site as a whole.

Which basis applies, and to how many

Not a choice — it is what each company’s filings support.

free cash flow 38

Where the bases disagree most

The same dividend, a different answer. These are the widest gaps in consumer staples.

Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 251.3 pts
Flowers Foods (FLO) 198.7 pts
Tyson Foods (TSN) 114.5 pts
Coca Cola (KO) 98.7 pts
Sanfilippo John B & Son (JBSS) 93.0 pts

Lowest payout

Corteva 16.9%
Archer-Daniels-Midland 23.5%
Kroger 25.6%
Church & Dwight 26.3%
Ingles Markets 31.0%

Highest payout

National Beverage 178.5%
Coca Cola 165.8%
Sanfilippo John B & Son 130.8%
Hormel Foods 118.5%
Kimberly Clark 101.3%

Common questions

What is a good dividend payout ratio for a consumer staples company?

Measured on the basis its own filings support, the median here is 65.1%, with half between 39.6% and 80.9%. That is the empirical answer for this sector rather than a rule of thumb, and it is the only comparison that means anything — a figure that is ordinary in one sector is stretched in another.

Which measure should a consumer staples company be judged on?

38 of the 38 measured here are read on free cash flow, because that is what their filings support. Each company’s page shows every basis it can be measured on and marks the one that applies.

Where do these numbers come from?

Each company’s own annual filing, read out of SEC XBRL. Every page names the accession number its figures came from and links it to EDGAR, so any figure here can be checked against the source.

All 43 companies

What a dividend payout ratio measures, and why one threshold does not fit every sector.

Ticker	Company	Basis	Yield	Spread	Rating
EL	Estee Lauder Companies	FCF	—	251.3	68
FLO	Flowers Foods	FCF	—	198.7	66
TSN	Tyson Foods	FCF	—	114.5	34
KO	Coca Cola	FCF	2.24%	98.7	5
JBSS	Sanfilippo John B & Son	FCF	—	93.0	3
EPC	Edgewell Personal Care	FCF	—	91.4	17
KR	Kroger	FCF	—	76.9	73
ADM	Archer-Daniels-Midland	FCF	—	73.4	77
HRL	Hormel Foods	FCF	—	58.4	15
LW	Lamb Weston Holdings	FCF	—	50.1	70
MDLZ	Mondelez International	FCF	—	47.6	37
KMB	Kimberly Clark	FCF	—	41.5	19
DMC	Del Monte	FCF	—	40.4	72
KVUE	Kenvue	FCF	—	36.6	13
PEP	Pepsico	FCF	—	36.4	29
CPB	Campbell'S	FCF	—	36.0	50
CL	Colgate Palmolive	FCF	—	35.7	69
CALM	Cal-Maine Foods	FCF	—	33.4	18
FIZZ	National Beverage	FCF	—	31.3	0
CTVA	Corteva	FCF	—	29.8	79
MO	Altria Group	FCF	—	26.1	54
IMKTA	Ingles Markets	FCF	—	23.0	47
KDP	Keurig Dr Pepper	FCF	—	22.9	11
CAG	Conagra Brands	FCF	—	20.7	33
GIS	General Mills	FCF	—	20.2	25
SYY	Sysco	FCF	—	20.0	68
CLX	Clorox	FCF	—	17.7	24
CHD	Church & Dwight	FCF	—	15.4	88
PG	Procter & Gamble	FCF	—	15.2	50
MKC	Mccormick	FCF	—	15.0	50
ECL	Ecolab	FCF	—	14.1	71
STZ	Constellation Brands	FCF	—	13.1	64
HSY	Hershey	FCF	—	11.9	54
PM	Philip Morris International	FCF	—	10.4	46
DPZ	Dominos Pizza	FCF	—	9.7	73
AVY	Avery Dennison	FCF	—	9.4	60
KHC	Kraft Heinz	FCF	—	9.3	59
SJM	J M Smucker	FCF	—	8.7	77
BG	Bunge Global	—	—	2.4	27
ESGH	ESG	—	—	—	25
ISPR	Ispire Technology	—	—	—	—
LMNR	Limoneira	—	—	—	69
SEED	Origin Agritech	—	—	—	34