Key Points
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Kroger, J.M. Smucker, and Conagra Brands are all dividend-paying consumer stocks priced mainly on current earnings rather than future growth hopes.
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Each company has a specific, non-financial story driving it this year.
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Conagra’s dividend reset this summer is worth knowing about going in, even though it was arguably a healthy move.
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The latest stock market wobble has a familiar shape to it. Semiconductor and AI-adjacent stocks have led the slide, with the group that powered this year’s rally now trading in bear-market territory after dropping more than 20% from their June peak. The worry isn’t that these companies are doing poorly, it’s that investors paid up for earnings still years away from showing up. That’s the thing about growth stocks during a sell-off: a lot of their price is a bet on the future, and bets on the future get repriced fast when sentiment turns.
Value stocks work differently. Their price is mostly tied to what a company earns right now, not what it might earn in five years, which leaves them less room to fall apart when the market gets nervous. Here are three dividend-paying consumer stocks built on that foundation, along with what each one is actually doing this year to earn its keep.
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1. Kroger: betting on price and private label, not price-ins
Kroger (NYSE: KR), the grocery chain behind thousands of stores nationwide, just told investors it plans to put $5 billion into lower prices and simpler promotions through 2029, funded partly by leaning harder into its own private label brands. According to Reuters, the plan calls for roughly 1,000 new store-brand products over three years, with its premium Private Selection line targeted to grow more than 15% annually, all while Kroger opens around 110 new stores in markets where it already sees demand. Grocery shopping doesn’t pause because the Nasdaq had a bad week, and Kroger just raised its dividend 11% in June, a sign management isn’t bracing for trouble.
2. J.M. Smucker: letting a sandwich carry the company
The J.M. Smucker Company (NYSE: SJM) makes Jif, Folgers, and Smucker’s jams, but its most interesting story this year is a frozen peanut butter sandwich. Uncrustables crossed $1 billion in annual net sales for the first time, hitting a goal the company had been chasing for years, and its Café Bustelo coffee brand grew sales about 39% in the same stretch.
Last week, the company announced that its Board of Directors approved a dividend of $1.12 per common share. The dividend will be paid on Dec. 1, 2026, to shareholders of record as of Nov. 13, 2026. Smucker’s Hostess snack business has been the drag on the portfolio, with the company writing down its value multiple times since buying it, but a business with a billion-dollar sandwich and a coffee brand growing that fast has real ballast even while it works through the weaker piece.
3. Conagra Brands: leaning into protein instead of just price
Conagra Brands (NYSE: CAG) makes Banquet, Healthy Choice, and Marie Callender’s brands. This year it rolled out a wave of new frozen items built around a theme: protein. The company’s own research pegs high-protein frozen food as a $12 billion annual category, and its summer launch lineup leaned into exactly that, from new chicken tenders to protein-forward bowls, rather than competing purely on price in a crowded freezer aisle. It’s worth knowing upfront that Conagra reset its dividend lower this summer to align the payout with what the business actually generates, a move that stings in the moment but tends to leave a steadier dividend behind rather than one at risk of a surprise cut later.
None of these three companies is immune to a bad week in the market, and nothing here guarantees the stock won’t dip if the broader sell-off deepens. What they share is that their value doesn’t rest on a tech story or future promise about 2030, it rests on groceries people are buying this week, sandwiches already selling by the million, and frozen dinners already in freezers. All these companies have snuck into our everyday lives, and they have consistent dividends to back up an investment. That’s the kind of foundation that tends to hold up a little better when the market starts asking hard questions about which numbers are real and which ones are hopeful.
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Micah Zimmerman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends J.M. Smucker. The Motley Fool recommends Kroger. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
