Unilever NV (UN)

Nestle is better longer term proxy for this space. UN-N has been under-performing against it peers as they have been below guidance and have seen market share losses.

Trades at 20x earnings and pays a 3.4% yield. The problem is that Kraft wanted to buy them. Unilever reacted by restructuring, but did so poorly. They are cutting investments to meet their targets, which is not a good move. Another problem is that they won't sell unprofitable parts of their business. Third, they are using their balance sheet to buy businesses instead of re-structuring properly. They're in a lot tougher business now than years ago, given online/social media branding.

Pays a 3.3% yield. They're the leader in emerging markets. Their last quarter beat the street with good growth in EM. Also, they're buying a lot of small, ubiquitous companies that Gen Xers and Millennials patronize. (Analysts’ price target is $61.67)

The staple companies are starting to sell off, including this though it bumped up when Warren Buffett tried to buy it. It's 50/50 in developing and emerging markets. Hold for the long run and you will be rewarded with higher dividends and share price. Worth looking at.

He is not bullish on consumer stocks. They have been losing pricing power. Unilever has great brands but the ecommerce move is making it difficult for FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) companies, putting more pricing pressure on them. It has become very easy to build new cosmetic brands and these new boutique brands will add pressure on companies like Unilever.

This gives him some offset to volatility. Just sold their spreads business and has $6 billion to allocate. If they do it the right way, there could be some good times for this company moving forward. Dividend yield of 2.8%. (Analysts' price target is $60.00.)

Consumer staples have always been appealing for low volatility; however this sector is now quite pricey. They are focusing on improving productivity and margins. The prospects are probably relatively good.

The consumer staple sector has broadly sold off after the election. It was a very defensive sector that had done quite well. A very good, broadly diversified consumer staple stock. European valuations on consumer staples are a little more compelling than in the US. Yield of about 3.6%.

They have done some restructuring. The issue right now is more in the emerging markets, and how are they impacted by the slowdown in those markets. Over 50% of their sales come from these markets. Feels there are better consumer discretionary stocks that he can be involved in.