Heinz has a lackluster Q4

There were a couple positive things reported in the release. First, cash flow for the full fiscal year did pretty well. No, cash from operations and free cash flow didn't increase, but they didn't really go down much, either. Free cash flow was roughly $880 million this year versus roughly $895 million last year. I think shareholders will find that acceptable. As they will the second positive development: the annual dividend was increased by two pennies to $1.68 per share. That displays a level of confidence in the cash flows. However, this particular positive development comes with a caveat, and you probably already know what it is: a two-penny increase to the annual dividend isn't the greatest dividend-increase story ever told. Increasing the quarterly dividend by two cents would have been much more welcome. So, that level of confidence I spoke of just now probably should be qualified as a small level of confidence.

I think Heinz is holding up reasonably okay, but the numbers don't inspire me to start a new position. Long-term investors will most likely do fine if they hold the stock for a disciplined period of time and reinvest the dividend proceeds, but I do have to reiterate that the two-penny dividend hike seems rather paltry. Granted, the economy may be such that next year will bring better comparisons, but I'm content in holding off a purchase of Heinz till we get more data.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change without notice.