Medical Giants Offer Dividend Stability With Tariff Worries Fading

Hello and welcome to Dividend Brief, the 2-times-weekly newsletter focused on dividend investing.

Today, we will look into Lowe’s, PepsiCo, and Devon Energy, highlight a few dividend stocks worth watching, and also share companies that are about to pay a dividend in the next few days.

Trading Methods (Sponsored)

Bitcoin Skimming: A Game-Changer for Investors

Bitcoin’s ups and downs have made and lost fortunes. But what if there was a way to outperform BTC—without ever buying it?

Hedge fund titan Larry Benedict has revealed a new approach called "Bitcoin Skimming," a strategy that has outpaced Bitcoin’s returns by as much as 22-to-1.

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Retail

$1.3B Acquisition Gives Lowe’s New Footing With Builders

Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) has agreed to acquire Artisan Design Group, a Dallas-based specialist in designing, distributing, and installing interior finishes for home builders and property managers, for approximately $1.3 billion in cash.

Artisan generated roughly $1.8 billion in revenue last year. Lowe’s will pay the entire $1.3 billion purchase price in cash and anticipates closing the deal in the second quarter.

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Management estimates that the deal expands Lowe’s professional total-addressable market to nearly $50 billion, a clear indication that consumer DIY growth has leveled off. Our view is that Lowe’s sees its future in capturing a larger share of the professional contractor segment, where demand is less cyclical.

Artisan’s expertise in flooring, cabinets, and countertops addresses a bottleneck for builders, who often face delays in finishing work. Integrating these services into Lowe’s network could streamline project timelines and lock pros into the brand’s ecosystem.

From an investor perspective, this shift toward installation services holds potential for margin improvement, assuming labor markups remain robust.

Home Depot, the longtime leader in the pro market, already operates its own installation arm. They may respond by either making a competing acquisition or by offering enhanced incentives to retain the builders. The competitive landscape is heating up, and Lowe’s is making its move.

CEO Marvin Ellison notes that the U.S. needs an estimated 18 million additional homes by 2033. That gap implies a long runway for new construction. If builders step up to fill it, Lowe’s—now equipped with a turnkey interiors team—stands to capture more of the spending that follows each new foundation.

Lowe’s is chasing a larger slice of contractor spending, and Artisan provides a ready-made platform to accelerate that push.

Consumer Goods

New Recyclable Boxes Signal PepsiCo’s Latest Push on Packaging Waste

PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) is eliminating the plastic overwrap on multipacks of snacks, such as Doritos, Cheetos, and Twisties, and replacing it with curbside-recyclable cardboard boxes. The shift, tied to the company’s “PepsiCo Positive” sustainability program, is expected to divert roughly 35 metric tons of soft plastic from landfills annually.

Beyond reducing waste, the redesigned boxes fit two additional snack bags per unit. That suggests a dual motive: less plastic cuts costs, more product boosts value, and the sleeker packaging could grab more attention on shelves.

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The boxes also feature printed ideas for family-friendly reuse, such as kids’ art projects, before being sent to the recycling bin. While individual chip bags remain plastic for now, this overhaul reflects incremental progress toward PepsiCo’s broader packaging commitments.

This change advances PepsiCo’s sustainability goals without requiring significant capital investment, aligning the snack portfolio with retailers that are increasingly prioritizing waste metrics in supplier evaluations. Competitors lagging on similar updates risk losing ground when shelf space is reassessed.

We’ll be watching to see if PepsiCo rolls out the cardboard format to its larger U.S. snack brands, as the combined cost savings and ESG benefits could become a bigger story down the line.

Radical Vision (Sponsored)

Elon’s Boldest Move Yet

Every investor in America is trying to figure out what Musk will do in Washington, D.C., in the coming weeks.

One Boston-based think tank – who has studied Elon’s work for decades – is stepping forward to share what they’ve found.

They believe his TRUE plan is far more radical than anyone realizes. It could change the way you live, work, get paid, and collect Social Security…

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Full story here.

Energy

Devon Targets $1B in Free-Cash-Flow Gains With New Efficiency Plan

Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) has unveiled a business-optimization plan projected to boost pre-tax free cash flow by approximately $1 billion annually by the end of 2026, with about 30% of that increase expected by late 2025.

A strategy like this hinges on reducing drilling and completion costs, streamlining field operations, and cutting corporate overhead. Devon plans to leverage analytics and automation to drive efficiencies and has secured new marketing agreements, which are expected to enhance realized pricing.

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The additional cash flow offers flexibility, likely split between debt reduction and variable dividends, consistent with Devon’s historical approach. This plan holds weight regardless of whether West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices remain stable, strengthening the company’s financial position.

This initiative is a buffer against volatile commodity markets, as lower unit costs provide greater resilience in the event of weakening oil prices. Past industry efforts at similar optimizations show that disciplined execution is critical to turning projections into tangible results.

Devon will provide quarterly updates on progress. For now, the $1 billion target represents a management commitment that, if achieved, could enhance Devon’s cost efficiency and give it a competitive edge in maintaining cash returns during challenging market conditions. 

MET increased its dividend payout to 56.75 cents per share, a 4.1% rise. Its new forward yield is 2.99%.

WES expanded its dividend payout to 91 cents per share, a 4.0% jump. Its new forward yield is 9.29%. 

EFX improved its dividend payout to 50 cents per share, an increase of 28%. Its new forward yield is 0.78%.

DMLP lowered its dividend payout to 74 cents per share, a cut of 12.5%. Its new dividend yield is 11.0%.

FTSL reduced its dividend payout to 25.75 cents per share, a cut of 0.9%. Its new dividend yield is 2.26%.

QQQI decreased its dividend payout to 53 cents per share, a cut of 9.5%. Its new dividend yield is 13.59%.

Tech Titans & Politics (Sponsored)

Elon Strikes Back

You may already sense that the tide is turning against Elon Musk and DOGE.

Just this week, President Trump promised to buy a Tesla to help support Musk in the face of a boycott against his company.

But according to one research group, with connections to the Pentagon and the U.S. government, Elon's preparing to strike back in a much bigger way in the days ahead.

Full story here...

Everything Else

• Google increased its dividend by 5% and expanded buybacks in its recent earnings report, reinforcing its status as a mature tech stock approaching its terminal value.

• AbbVie is pressuring the Trump administration to focus on corporate tax reform rather than tariffs to improve U.S. innovation. 

• Significant stock pullbacks and (slowly) improving retail prospects make Lowe’s, Williams-Sonoma, and La-Z-Boy worth buying, according to KeyBanc analysts. 

• An analyst’s 13-year-old child grilled Pepsi execs during a recent earnings call as part of “Take Your Child to Work Day.”

• Execs at dividend stock favorite Vale SA project dropping iron ore prices soon despite tariffs.