Motley Fool: Oreos, dividends and growth

Mondelez International (Nasdaq: MDLZ) may not be a household name, but many of its brands are. They include Cadbury, Clif Bar, Halls, Honey Maid, Oreo, Philadelphia, Ritz, Sour Patch Kids, Tate’s Bake Shop, Toblerone and Triscuit.

Mondelez is the former snacking division of Kraft Foods (since merged into Kraft Heinz), spun off in 2012. The company has bulked up its chocolate business since then, and even reportedly explored acquiring Hershey in late 2024.

The company is a solid dividend payer, with a recent dividend yield of 3.4%. Better still, it has been hiking that payout by an annual average of 9.7% over the past five years. Mondelez also repurchased more than $13 billion of its shares from 2018 through 2024, reducing its outstanding shares by 15% over that period and making every remaining share worth more. The snack-maker believes it can continue returning more cash to shareholders in the future even as it keeps expanding its global portfolio of popular snacking brands.

On top of that, Mondelez is the kind of consumer staples stock that can do relatively well in an economic downturn, because while people may put off buying a car or refrigerator at such times, they’ll still buy food and snacks.

Mondelez may not be a headturning growth stock, but it’s likely to keep growing while rewarding its shareholders. Long-term investors, especially those seeking dividend income, may want to take a closer look.

My dumbest investment

My most regrettable investing move was selling 100 shares of Nvidia during the pandemic for around $190 per share. The stock was recently far higher. Bad move. However, I just bought the stock again, and it’s up 6% in one week. – D.V., Naples, Florida

The Fool Responds: You did leave a lot of money on the table, but if you weren’t confident that the company would keep growing, selling was a reasonable thing to do. If you sold very early in the pandemic, you missed out on some stock splits that would have increased your number of shares while reducing the share price proportionately. After a 4-for-1 split in mid-2021, you’d have owned 400 shares, and after a 10-for-1 split in mid-2024, you’d have had 4,000 shares. At a recent share price of $184, those 4,000 shares would be worth $736,000, quite a bit more than the $19,000 you got from selling.

It’s great that the shares you bought the second time popped 6% in a week, but you can’t count on that continuing. The stock might rise or fall by 1% or 5% or more on any given day, and it could even swoon for a long period. No investment is guaranteed, but many investors are bullish about Nvidia’s long-term prospects.

(Do you have a smart or regrettable investment move to share with us? Email it to TMFShare@ fool.com.)

Ask the Fool

Q. Should I root for interest rates to rise or fall in the coming years? – K.B., Rutland, Vermont

A. There are upsides and downsides to both higher and lower interest rates. For example, higher rates will reward those saving money. Annuities pay off more when interest rates are high, too. But when rates are high, it’s costly for companies that want to borrow money to fuel their growth. Higher rates will result in more generous bonds being issued – but that will make existing bonds, with lower rates, less valuable. Lower interest rates will be welcomed by those aiming to borrow money – such as for a new car or a home – but not by those saving money.

Lower rates will allow homebuyers to enjoy lower monthly payments or to buy more expensive homes. Many people may be able to refinance their mortgages, too, saving them money, and those with adjustable-rate loans will get lower rates and smaller monthly payments. Businesses will find it easier to borrow money, as well, which can help spur the economy.

Q. What’s a yield curve? – O.T., Janesville, Wisconsin

A. It’s a graph of yields from securities that pay interest, typically arranged according to maturity (when they repay the principal). Imagine, for example, a graph plotting the current interest rates of U.S. Treasury bonds with maturities of three months, two years, five years, 10 years and 30 years. Connecting all those points will give you a “yield curve.” Typically, this will slope upward, with rates rising for longer time frames, because investors expect economic expansion.

Yield curves can sometimes be flat or inverted, which generally reflects expectations of falling interest rates and/or a slowing economy.