At the end of the day, my favorite hot dog investment was the brand synonymous with the holiday itself—Nathan’s Famous.
A New Opportunity
The first officially recorded Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating competition took place on July 4, 1972.
However, the lore of the event suggests it stems from a disagreement on the same day back in 1916. As the story goes, four immigrants gathered at the Coney Island hot dog stand to settle a dispute about who was the most patriotic. The answer was he who eats the most hot dogs.
Today, the Nathan’s Famous brand is owned by Smithfield Foods (SFD), the world’s largest pork processor. The SFD brand is almost as old as Nathan’s Famous—over 100 years old. But the opportunity to invest is new.
The company was taken private in 2013 by WH Group in the largest Chinese takeover of a US company at the time. WH remains the majority stakeholder, but the stock returned to the US markets in January of last year. And it’s a stock that should be on your radar.
Not only has SFD paid a dividend since re-entering the market, it also raised the payment after one year. The current $0.3125 per quarter equals a yield of 5% at current prices. But that’s not the best part. While many grocery companies are struggling, Smithfield reported record first-quarter results in April.
This makes sense because SFD avoids many of the current grocery challenges. Its brands are not sold in the center aisles and fighting for shelf space and pricing. And it doesn’t face as much private label brand competition. Remember, Smithfield is the largest pork producer in the world, so we can guess many of its competing store brand products are in fact not bottom-line competition.
I’m going to wait to see SFD’s next earnings before adding it to my portfolio, but I think this will end up being the best way to add grocery dividends in 2026.
For more income, now and in the future,
Kelly Green
Originally published July 7, 2026
For more news, information, and strategy, visit ETF Trends.
