Shares of Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) rose 4% in morning trading on Tuesday after the company announced its plan to split into three independent public companies. The company’s board has approved a plan to separate its global snacking, North American cereal, and plant-based foods businesses into three independent public companies, whose names will be determined later.
“Kellogg has been on a successful journey of transformation to enhance performance and increase long-term shareowner value,” said Steve Cahillane, Kellogg’s chairman and CEO, in a news release announcing the plan. “This has included re-shaping our portfolio, and today’s announcement is the next step in that transformation.”
Cahillane added: “These businesses all have significant standalone potential, and an enhanced focus will enable them to better direct their resources toward their distinct strategic priorities. In turn, each business is expected to create more value for all stakeholders, and each is well positioned to build a new era of innovation and growth.”
The company behind such brands as Pringles, Frosted Flakes, and Rice Krispies has been considering spin-offs as a possible strategy since 2018, executives told investors on a conference call discussing the announcement on Tuesday. The spin-offs are expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
This move from Kellogg is sure to have a huge impact on several exchange traded funds that invest in the multinational food company, including the Invesco S&P Ultra Dividend Revenue ETF (RDIV), the Invesco S&P 500® Equal Weight ETF (RSP), the Invesco S&P 500® Equal Weight Consumer Staples ETF (RHS), and the Invesco ESG S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSPE).
RDIV invests at least 90% of its assets in securities that make up the S&P 900® Dividend Revenue-Weighted Index. The index is constructed using a rule-based methodology that starts with the S&P 900® and excludes both the top 5% of securities by dividend yield and the top 5% of securities within each sector by dividend payout ratio. The top 60 securities by dividend yield are then selected and re-weighted, according to the revenue earned by the companies, with a maximum 5% per company weighting.
Meanwhile, for investors looking to maintain broad exposure to the U.S. market, RSP could be ideal, since the fund weights each of the 500 holdings equally, around 0.20%. This results in exposure that is considerably more balanced than other alternatives, and a methodology that has often resulted in outperformance.
RHS offers exposure to the consumer staples sector of the U.S. economy, making it one option available to investors implementing sector rotation strategies or looking to tilt exposure towards a low beta industry, perhaps in anticipation of a down market.
RSPE, which integrates ESG criteria into the strategy, can offer diversification benefits and reduce concentration risk by weighting each constituent company equally so that a small group of companies does not have an outsized impact on the index.
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