VITERRA INC. $10.09 (Toronto symbol VT; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (1-866-569-4411; www.viterra.ca; Shares outstanding: 371.7 million; Market cap: $3.8 billion; Dividend yield: 1.5%) is a Saskatchewan-based agribusiness that mainly operates in Canada and Australia. The company accumulates, stores, transports, processes and markets grains, oilseeds and specialty crops including lentils and mustard.

Saskatchewan Wheat Pool was a farmers co-operative until it became a public company in 1996. It changed its name to Viterra in 2007 after it bought Agricore United for $1.3 billion. In 2009, Viterra bought Australian grain handler ABB Grain for $1.4 billion.

In its 2011 fiscal year, which ended October 31, 2011, Viterra’s revenue jumped 42.8%, to $11.8 billion from $8.2 billion. Earnings per share rose 82.1%, to $0.71 from $0.39. Higher crop shipments and grain prices were the main reasons for the gains.

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Tech stocks continue to make headlines. Often, this is due to the competitive race to get new products on the market. Sometimes, it is due to the spectacular rise—or spectacular fall—of a tech stock’s share price. But successful investors look beyond the headlines, to a company’s measurable strengths and weaknesses, to judge its long-term prospects, as we do today with one of the best-known names in the industry. GOOGLE INC. (Nasdaq symbol GOOG; investor.google.com) is the world’s leading Internet search engine. The search service is free, but it provides a platform for Google to sell ads on its websites. Ads account for 96% of its total revenue....

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions on specific stocks and other investing topics from the members of his Inner Circle. Every week, his comments and recommendations on a selection of the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And every Friday, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. This week, the subject of tech stocks came up as one Inner Circle member asked about a company that makes software that is vitally important for computers and mobile devices, but also faces a highly competitive market....

SARA LEE CORP. $18 (New York symbol SLE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 590.7 million; Market cap: $10.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.saralee.com) announced in January 2011 that it would break itself into two separate, publicly traded companies. One firm will consist of Sara Lee’s international coffee and tea businesses. The other will focus on its North American packaged meat operations. The company aims to complete the breakup by the end of fiscal 2012 (fiscal years end June 30). It will also pay a special dividend of $3.00 a share before the split....

KRAFT FOODS INC. $36 (New York symbol KFT; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $64.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.kraft.com) plans to break itself into two separate, publicly traded companies by the end of 2012. One company will sell snack foods, such as Oreo cookies, Cadbury chocolates, Trident gum and Tang powdered beverages. This business will have annual sales of $32 billion, with 42% of that coming from developing markets, such as China, Brazil and India. The other company will consist of Kraft’s slower-growing grocery-products business, which mainly sells its foods in North American supermarkets. These products include Kraft macaroni and cheese, Oscar Mayer meats, Philadelphia cream cheese, Maxwell House coffee, Jell-O desserts and Miracle Whip salad dressing. This company will have $16 billion of annual sales....

The fast-food business is generally associated with inexpensive food and plain décor. It is rarely associated with healthy eating. But one U.S. chain has adopted a higher quality approach, so far with success. CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL (New York symbol CMG; www.chipotle.com) is a Denver-based Mexican-restaurant chain. The company charges slightly higher prices than fast-food chains, but it offers higher-quality food, including naturally raised meat, and better decor and service....

NEWMONT MINING CORP. $61 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 494.8 million; Market cap: $30.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newmont.com) is one of the world’s largest gold-mining companies. It has major mines in the U.S., Australia and Peru. Newmont gets about 90% of its revenue from gold. It gets the remaining 10% from copper, zinc and other metals. Most of Newmont’s copper comes from its 27.56% stake in the large Batu Hijau mining complex in Indonesia. Combined with financing arrangements the company has with other Batu Hijau shareholders, Newmont’s economic interest in this mine is effectively 44.56%. The company prefers to sell its gold at the market price instead of through long-term hedging contracts that lock in prices. This policy has helped it take full advantage of rising gold prices: Newmont’s average realized gold price jumped 105.7%, from $594 an ounce in 2006 to $1,222 in 2010....

CAMPBELL SOUP CO. $32 (New York symbol CPB; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 318.7 million; Market cap: $10.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 3.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.campbellsoupcompany.com) is the world’s largest maker of canned soups. It also makes Prego canned pasta and sauces, Pepperidge Farm cookies and V8 vegetable juices.

The company’s sales rose 1.7%, from $7.9 billion in 2007 to $8.0 billion in 2008 (fiscal years end July 31). Sales fell to $7.6 billion in 2009, but rose to $7.7 billion in 2011.

Erratic earnings set to stabilize

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NEWMONT MINING CORP. $60 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 493.1 million; Market cap: $29.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newmont.com) expects its overall copper production will fall to around 160 million pounds in 2012 from 206 million pounds in 2011. That’s because the operators of its 44.56%-owned Batu Hijau open-pit copper mine in Indonesia need time to clear out waste material so they can reach lower depths with higher grades of copper. As well, Newmont expects its copper production costs to jump to between $1.80 and $2.20 per ounce in 2012 from $1.26 in 2011.

The company also expects to produce 5.0 million to 5.2 million ounces of gold in 2012, which is comparable to the 5.2 million ounces it produced in 2011. However, due to rising power and labour costs at its Australian mines, its gold-production costs will jump to between $625 and $675 an ounce from $592 in 2011.

Newmont’s long-term outlook remains bright. Concerns over European sovereign debt should continue to spur gold prices. Copper prices should also rebound in 2012, as global consumption will probably exceed production.

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PEPSICO INC. $67 (New York symbol PEP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $107.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.pepsico.com) will make and distribute Ocean Spray cranberry drinks in Latin America under a new 20-year deal with Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.

The two companies already have a similar deal in the U.S., where Ocean Spray’s volumes have risen 20% since 2006. PepsiCo feels its marketing expertise and distribution networks will help it repeat this success in Latin America.

PepsiCo is a buy.

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