Dividend.com: Estee Lauder Glam

Briggs & Stratton Can't Jump Start Profits

Briggs & Stratton (BGG Quote) came in with a downer of an earnings report today. The company reported sales that fell 14% to $581.1 million, citing lower shipments in the company's engine and power products segments.

EPS was 22 cents below expectations, and making the news even harder was the announcement that the company had to restate its results for the past three fiscal years because of several accounting errors.

Even though investors may get excited about the nearly 6% dividend yield (based on last night's closing stock price of $14.70), we would avoid bottom-fishing here. Briggs & Stratton could easily cut their dividend at any time in order to ease some of the company's cash outlay. We prefer a better-run company, and a leader in the field, like Deere (DE Quote).

Briggs & Stratton is not a recommended dividend stock at this time, holding a Dividend.com rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars.

J.M. Smucker Spreads Joy to Investors J.M. Smucker(SJM Quote) hit the earnings results out of the park this past quarter. The company's revenue increased 18 percent to $663.7 million. The company, which also owns Jif Peanut Butter, Crisco Cooking Oil, and Pillsbury baking items, benefited from price increases across its product pipeline.

Management continues to push consistent investments in marketing and product innovation that will is designed to sustain the company's long-term profitable growth. The company also said the acquisition of the Folgers brand is near completion. The company expects to sales in the $1.5 billion area from the Folgers brand.