New Kraft Foods is off to a strong start

Article Excerpt

KRAFT FOODS GROUP INC. $54 (Nasdaq symbol KRFT; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 595.6 million; Market cap: $32.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 3.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.kraftfoodsgroup.com) makes a variety of grocery products, including Kraft macaroni and cheese, Oscar Mayer meats, Philadelphia cream cheese, Maxwell House coffee, Jell-O desserts and Miracle Whip salad dressing. North American focus brings stability Kraft gets all of its sales from North America, which limits its risk. Moreover, its well-established brands give it steady cash flow: 10 of its banners each generate annual sales of over $500 million. The company took its current form on October 1, 2012. That’s when the old Kraft Foods Inc. broke itself into two publicly traded companies: Mondelez International (Nasdaq symbol MDLZ), which focuses on snack foods, and Kraft Foods Group. If you assume the breakup occurred at the start of 2008, Kraft’s sales would have fallen from $17.7 billion in 2008 to…