Leaner food makers are ready to compete

Article Excerpt

Saputo and Maple Leaf Foods have each gained over 20% in the past six months, while Canada Bread is up 4%. That’s mainly because all three companies are doing a good job of controlling their costs in the face of rising prices for ingredients (like wheat), fuel and electricity. Their investments in new plants and purchases of other food makers have also enhanced their long-term prospects. We like the outlook for all three, but we only see Maple Leaf as a buy right now. SAPUTO INC. $50 (Toronto symbol SAP; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 197.2 million; Market cap: $9.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.saputo.com) is Canada’s largest producer of dairy products, including milk, butter and cheese. It also makes snack cakes and tarts. Saputo operates in the U.S., Argentina and Europe. In its fiscal 2013 third quarter, which ended December 31, 2012, Saputo earned $130.0 million, or $0.65 a share. That’s…