declared a regular quarterly cash dividend and approved a 21% increase from $0.0828 per share to $0.10 per share

employee

Anything with any sort of higher price point was a disaster in January, and there's a food war going on among Kroger (KR), Safeway (SWY) and Wal-Mart (WMT) that's disastrous for margins.

Strategas screened for staple companies with net margins above three-year average, improving net operating cash flow, and reasonable price-to-sales ratios relative to the sector's average, and came up with names including Altria (MO), Kroger (KR), Sysco (SYY), H.J. Heinz (HNZ), Safeway (SWY), and Molson Coors Brewing (TAP).

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The supermarket chain based out of Pleasanton, Calif. announced that it will add $1 billion to its buyback plan. Since the programs beginning, Safeway's board has authorized a total of $5 billion for buybacks. To date, the company has spent $3.55 billion repurchasing common stock and has $1.45 billion remaining.

The leading food retailer also announced that it raised its quarterly dividend to 8.28 cents a share from 6.9 cents a share, an increase of 20%.

Safeway reported first quarter profit of $193.4 million, or 44 cents a share, an increase of 11% from $174.4 million or 39 cents a share in the same period last year. The Easter holiday and high fuel consumption helped total sales jump 7.3% to $10 billion. During the quarter the company spent $74.1 million repurchasing 2.5 million shares.

Steve Burd, Chairman, President and CEO added, "Our efforts to reduce and control costs contributed to operating margin improvement. At the same time, we invested in lower prices to improve our competitiveness and enhance our consumer offering. We remain confident in our ability to deliver earnings per share growth in the 13-18% range for this 53-week year."

The grocery store also said that if their Club Card members cash in their economic stimulus checks at Safeway stores then that customer will receive a 10% discount on purchases made in the store.

20%

Also in the golden state, grocery giant Safeway (SWY) sweetened its common dividend by 20%. The new quarterly will be 8.28 cents a share, up from 6.9 cents. The payment date is July 17 for stockholders of record June 26. Ex-date: June 24. Dividends were initiated in 2005 and have been growing annually. In addition, Safeway directors increased the company's stock-buyback program by $1 billion, to a total of $5 billion. As of March 31, Safeway had repurchased approximately $3.55 billion worth of its shares.

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