These foodmakers can handle rising costs

Article Excerpt

Rising prices for corn, wheat and other crops are adding to the costs of these food and ingredient producers. However, the strong position of their leading brands let them pass along these extra costs to their customers. Even so, we feel Archer Daniels and Mondelez are currently in a better position than PepsiCo to withstand a slowdown in consumer spending. ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND CO. $94 is a buy. The company (New York symbol ADM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 549.3 million; Market cap: $51.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.adm.com) processes corn, wheat, soybeans, flax seed and other crops into a variety of food ingredients such as flour, oils and sweeteners. It’s also a leading producer of ethanol from corn, a gasoline additive that reduces harmful emissions. Archer’s revenue and earnings are vulnerable to the prices it pays for its underlying commodities. Due to the jump in corn, wheat and other commodity prices in the wake…