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Topic: Growth Stocks

DEL MONTE FOODS CO. $12 – New York symbol DLM

DEL MONTE FOODS CO. $12 (New York symbol DLM, Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 198.2 million; Market cap: $2.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 1.7%; WSSF Rating: Average) makes canned fruits, vegetables, sauces and soups. The company also makes Meow Mix, 9Lives and Milk-Bone brand pet foods.

The company earned $62.6 million in its second quarter, which ended November 1, 2009. That’s up 129.3% from $27.3 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 121.4%, to $0.31 from $0.14, on more shares outstanding. If you exclude a charge related to the early repayment of senior notes, Del Monte’s earnings would have risen to $0.36 a share in the latest quarter.

Del Monte continues to cut costs and improve productivity. For example, it has moved some plants to cut the distance between them and reduce shipping costs. In all, Del Monte’s cost cuts lowered its expenses by $20 million in the latest quarter.

The savings let Del Monte raise its marketing spending by 30%. It also raised its prices. These moves helped push up Del Monte’s sales up by 6.4%, to $958.9 million from $901.0 million.

The company should earn $1.05 a share in fiscal 2010. The stock trades at a low 11.4 times that amount.

Del Monte is a buy.

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