ConAgra aims higher

Article Excerpt

CONAGRA FOODS INC. $22 (New York symbol CAG; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 443.1 million; Market cap: $9.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; WSSF Rating: Above Average) has sold most of its fresh-food and animal-feed businesses over the past few years to focus on its more profitable packaged-food operations. ConAgra’s major brands include Chef Boyardee pasta, Hunt’s ketchup and Peter Pan peanut butter. In the three months ended August 30, 2009, ConAgra’s earnings per share rose 40.7%, to $0.38 from $0.27 a year earlier. These figures exclude unusual items. Lower ingredient costs were the main reason behind the gain. As well, the company stopped making certain low-margin products. Sales fell 3.1%, to $3 billion from $3.1 billion. Consumer products, which account for about two-thirds of ConAgra’s overall sales, rose 1% in the quarter. That’s despite lower sales of Slim Jim meat snacks due to a fire at a North Carolina plant last June. The company also supplies food to restaurants. This division reported…