Del Monte
New York symbol DLM, makes canned fruits and vegetables, tuna, sauces and soups. It also makes pet foods.
Our top stock picks seem to attract way more than an average number of takeover bids. We think this is because we zero in on a company’s earnings potential, rather than basing decisions on predictions for next year’s earnings.
Corporate buyers and big investors usually see things the same way. Many investors tell us that until they began following our …read more »
DEL MONTE FOODS CO. $13 (New York symbol DLM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 193.7 million; Market cap: $2.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 2.8%; WSSF Rating: Average) makes canned fruits, vegetables, sauces and soups. Its leading brands include Del Monte, Contadina, S&W and College Inn.
In 2006, the company bought the Meow Mix line of cat foods …read more »
Food companies add stability to your portfolio. While they have to deal with changing costs and eating trends, they benefit from continuous, habitual buying by regular customers regardless of the overall economy. The recession has prompted more consumers to switch to cheaper, generic brands. But falling raw-material costs will let these six top food companies lower their prices, maintain their …read more »
DEL MONTE FOODS CO. $9.02 (New York symbol DLM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 197.7 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; WSSF Rating: Average) makes a wide variety of canned fruits and vegetables, as well as sauces and soups. Del Monte also makes pet food under the 9Lives, Milk-Bone and Meow Mix brands.
In the fiscal year …read more »
DEL MONTE FOODS CORP. $8.00 (New York symbol DLM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 197.3 million; Market cap: $1.6 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) acquired its StarKist canned tuna division from Heinz in 2002, but rising prices for raw materials and strong price competition have hurt its profitability. Del Monte now makes more money from its canned fruit and …read more »
DEL MONTE FOODS CO. $7.65 (New York symbol DLM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 200.7 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) makes canned fruits and vegetables, tuna, sauces and soups under the Del Monte, StarKist and College Inn brands. This business accounts for 60% of its sales. The other 40% comes from its pet food business, …read more »
Rising costs for ingredients such as wheat, corn and meat have squeezed profit margins at most food processing companies. Higher packaging and transportation costs are also hurting earnings.
We feel investors should now more than ever focus on leading food companies, such as these six. Their strong brands and high market share make it easier for them to pass along higher …read more »
We’ve upgraded our WSSF Ratings for these three stocks:
DEL MONTE FOODS CO. $11 (New York symbol DLM) from “Extra risk” to “Average”. The company’s acquisition of the Meow Mix and Milk-Bone pet food brands enhances its long-term prospects, since pet foods tend to generate higher profits than consumer food products. That should give Del Monte more cash for dividends and …read more »
NVIDIA CORP. $34 (Nasdaq symbol NVDA; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 362.0 million; Market cap: $12.3 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) earned $0.33 a share in its first fiscal quarter ended April 29, 2007, up 37.5% from $0.24 a year earlier. Revenue rose 23.8%, to $844.3 million from $681.8 million, as strong sales of notebook computers spurred …read more »
DEL MONTE FOODS CO. $11 (New York symbol DLM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; WSSF Rating: Extra risk) makes a wide variety of canned fruit and vegetables.
In December 2002, Del Monte acquired Heinz’s seafood, baby food, pet food and private label soup businesses. The company felt these operations would broaden its product line, and help it compete with larger food …read more »
