Latest news with #ProcterGamble
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Unilever Just Dropped $1.5 Billion on a Soap Brand--Here's Why It Might Be Genius
Unilever (UN) is making a $1.5 billion move into the premium men's grooming gamequietly snapping up Dr. Squatch, the viral soap brand with a Sasquatch mascot and a cult-like following. Founded in 2013 by Jack Haldrup, Dr. Squatch built its name on natural bar soaps and clever online ads. It has since expanded into deodorants, colognes, and hair care, selling through both e-commerce and retail shelves. While Unilever declined to confirm numbers, the Financial Times pegged the price tag at $1.5 billion, citing sources familiar with the matter. For Unilever, this isn't just about soap. Dr. Squatch fills a key gap in its men's personal care lineup, sitting alongside Axe and Dove Men+Care but with a more premium, DTC-native edge. The company said it plans to scale Dr. Squatch globallyhinting at ambitions well beyond the U.S. market. This could position Unilever to go head-to-head with Procter & Gamble's Old Spice, especially among younger men who care more about ingredients, branding, and online authenticity than shelf placement. The backstory? Summit Partners had reportedly been exploring a sale last year, targeting a $2 billion valuation. That makes this $1.5 billion deal a potentially savvy entry point for Unileverespecially if it can maintain Dr. Squatch's digital momentum while expanding internationally. Investors watching consumer staples may see this as more than just a quirky soap play. It's a calculated bet on brand storytelling, digital distribution, and premium male groomingan $80+ billion global market that's only getting more fragmented and competitive. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Unilever Just Dropped $1.5 Billion on a Soap Brand--Here's Why It Might Be Genius
Unilever (UN) is making a $1.5 billion move into the premium men's grooming gamequietly snapping up Dr. Squatch, the viral soap brand with a Sasquatch mascot and a cult-like following. Founded in 2013 by Jack Haldrup, Dr. Squatch built its name on natural bar soaps and clever online ads. It has since expanded into deodorants, colognes, and hair care, selling through both e-commerce and retail shelves. While Unilever declined to confirm numbers, the Financial Times pegged the price tag at $1.5 billion, citing sources familiar with the matter. For Unilever, this isn't just about soap. Dr. Squatch fills a key gap in its men's personal care lineup, sitting alongside Axe and Dove Men+Care but with a more premium, DTC-native edge. The company said it plans to scale Dr. Squatch globallyhinting at ambitions well beyond the U.S. market. This could position Unilever to go head-to-head with Procter & Gamble's Old Spice, especially among younger men who care more about ingredients, branding, and online authenticity than shelf placement. The backstory? Summit Partners had reportedly been exploring a sale last year, targeting a $2 billion valuation. That makes this $1.5 billion deal a potentially savvy entry point for Unileverespecially if it can maintain Dr. Squatch's digital momentum while expanding internationally. Investors watching consumer staples may see this as more than just a quirky soap play. It's a calculated bet on brand storytelling, digital distribution, and premium male groomingan $80+ billion global market that's only getting more fragmented and competitive. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Procter & Gamble Has a Strong Competitive Advantage
The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) is one of the Best Wide Moat Dividend Stocks to Invest in. A happy couple viewing the products of this household and personal product company in a mass merchandiser store. The company is behind many of the world's most recognized household brands. Its wide-ranging portfolio includes well-known names like Ariel, Pampers, Bounty, Gillette, and several skincare lines. The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) has built strong retail relationships across the globe, with its products now sold in more than 180 countries. However, given its extensive international presence, P&G is exposed to risks such as currency fluctuations— especially a stronger U.S. dollar— and economic challenges in major markets like China. Despite these risks, The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) is considered one of the most reliable dividend-paying stocks. Its strength lies in a diverse mix of leading products across sectors like beauty, health, grooming, home care, and family care. Backed by powerful brand recognition and a world-class supply chain, P&G consistently delivers higher profit margins compared to many of its competitors. The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) has been rewarding shareholders with growing dividends for the past 69 years. The company offers a quarterly dividend of $1.0568 per share for a dividend yield of 2.64%, as of June 24. While we acknowledge the potential of PG as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: and . Disclosure. None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CBC
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
Anar Ali quit her corporate job and created a hit cop drama
When Anar Ali quit her corporate job to pursue her creative passions, she could never have imagined having the success she has today. Ali is the creator and executive producer of the hit Canadian cop drama Allegiance, which recently got greenlit for a third season. But her path to working in television was anything but linear. More than 25 years ago, Ali was a business development executive at Procter & Gamble where she found herself quickly moving up the corporate ladder. One day, while walking home in downtown Calgary, she noticed a pamphlet on the ground for the Writers' Guild of Alberta. Ali had been interested in writing since she was a kid, so on a whim, she decided to attend one of the guild's conferences in Banff. Though she was nervous at first, she felt so at home among the writers at the conference that she burst into tears. It was there that she also made a life-changing connection with Canadian literary star Shyam Selvadurai, who's best known as the author of the bestselling novel Funny Boy. "We started chatting [and] we ended up going for a drink," Ali recalls in an interview with Q guest host Gill Deacon. "When he signed his book to me, it said, 'Dear Anar, take the plunge' … That was Saturday. On Monday, I went in and quit [my job]." But Procter & Gamble wasn't ready to let go of one of their star employees that easily. They offered Ali an opportunity to work for four days per week, with one day off to focus on her writing. She did that for a year until she realized she needed an even bigger life change. "This decision of becoming a writer really showed the fault lines in my marriage," she says. "I really realized I was not living the life I wanted…. So one decision led to another. And it did come to that point where I was like, 'What am I doing?'" After Ali left her job and her marriage, she spent time travelling before eventually moving to Toronto where she lived off of her savings. She describes her past self as being "sweetly naive" about the difficulties she would have to face without a stable income, but she persevered. Eventually, Ali enrolled in an MFA program at the University of British Columbia, where she completed her first book, Baby Khaki's Wings. "I do feel really fortunate to have gone to UBC, have gotten in there as a new writer, and had this amazing support system to help me get there," she says. "After you graduate from that school, agents come knocking — and that's what happened to me. And then Penguin asked for the second book. And that way, it set me onto a trajectory."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Near a 52-Week Low, 3 Reasons Why This Dividend King Is a No-Brainer Buy for Reliable Passive Income
Procter & Gamble stock has sold off along with the broader consumer staples sector. The consumer goods giant has a fairly flexible supply chain despite being such a large business. P&G has a sizeable capital return program and an ultra-reliable dividend. 10 stocks we like better than Procter & Gamble › 2025 has featured no shortage of news items, from new all-time highs in the major stock market indexes in February to tariffs and trade tensions, a swift and brutal drawdown across many top stocks, a rapid recovery, and now Middle East uncertainty. Volatility is a good reminder of the importance of holding quality companies in your portfolio that you are confident in holding even when faced with the unexpected. Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is one of the largest and most well-run consumer staples companies. The dividend stock has pulled back recently and is now hovering around a 52-week low. Here's why the sell-off is a buying opportunity for investors looking to generate reliable passive income. The best consumer staples and packaged goods companies have a portfolio of well-managed and well-known brands that can lead to high margins and sustained growth. P&G has several leading brands across beauty, grooming, healthcare, fabric and home care, and baby, feminine, and family care. Because its brand lineup is so strong, P&G has enjoyed immense success expanding its brands internationally. In fact, P&G's international sales exceed its domestic sales. P&G does a masterful job of leveraging its global supply chain and marketing to ensure that it benefits from diversification. Too often, multinational companies with many brands can depend too much on a handful of brands to drive margin growth and get bogged down by underperformers. However, what separates P&G from the competition is that it focuses more on expanding its existing brand lineup than overly relying on acquisitions. Relative to its size, P&G hasn't made a blockbuster acquisition since buying Gillette 20 years ago for $57 billion. P&G's growth has been fairly mediocre in recent years. But the quality of the company's earnings is unmatched in its industry. As you can see in the chart, P&G has steadily expanded its margins and free cash flow (FCF) per share, which supports its growing dividend. In April, P&G increased its dividend for the 69th consecutive year -- giving it one of the longest streaks among companies that have raised their dividends for at least 50 years (known as Dividend Kings). Despite that track record, P&G only yields 2.6% -- partially because the stock has been a long-term winner with a 167% total return (capital gains plus dividends) over the last decade. While there are plenty of other value stocks in the consumer staples sector with higher yields than P&G, few companies compare when considering the quality of earnings growth and the full scope of the capital return program. As mentioned, P&G generates far more FCF than it needs to pay dividends. So, it has plenty of dry powder to repurchase its stock consistently. Buying back stock brings down the share count and boosts earnings per share. In the last five years, P&G has decreased its share count by 5.5%, and by 13.6% over the last decade. Thanks to the power of buybacks, P&G has four levers it can pull to grow earnings -- sales volume growth, price increases, operating margin expansion, and stock buybacks. P&G commands a premium valuation relative to other companies in its sector because it is an industry leader in many different consumer categories and has a track record of steady earnings, FCF, and dividends. One glance at P&G's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 26.3 may suggest that the stock is overvalued compared to other options. But look closer, and P&G is a fair price. P&G's P/E and price-to-FCF ratios are right around five-year median levels. And its forward P/E suggests P&G could begin to look cheap if the stock price stagnates and earnings continue climbing higher. There are far cheaper stocks than P&G with higher yields. So, P&G definitely isn't a good fit for folks looking for bargain-bin passive income options. However, P&G could be a foundational holding for investors looking for a company they can count on even during economic downturns and geopolitical uncertainty. P&G has seen quarterly fluctuations in volume growth and pricing power. But overall, it has done an impeccable job managing consumer spending weakness, especially considering many of its peers are facing eroding margins. Add it all up, and P&G is an excellent choice for investors who value dividend quality over quantity. Before you buy stock in Procter & Gamble, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Procter & Gamble wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $689,813!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $906,556!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 809% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 175% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 23, 2025 Daniel Foelber has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Near a 52-Week Low, 3 Reasons Why This Dividend King Is a No-Brainer Buy for Reliable Passive Income was originally published by The Motley Fool
