Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, September 28, 2018

Article Excerpt

CONAGRA BRANDS INC., $33.97, New York symbol CAG, makes packaged foods, including Chef Boyardee canned pasta, Hunt’s tomato sauce, Peter Pan peanut butter, Orville Redenbacher popcorn and Reddi-wip whipped cream. The stock fell 9% this week after the company reported weaker-than-expected sales and earnings. In its fiscal 2019 first quarter, ended August 26, 2018, Conagra’s sales rose 1.7%, to $1.83 billion from $1.80 billion a year earlier. That missed the consensus forecast of $1.85 billion. If you factor out contributions from acquisitions and foreign currency rates, sales gained 1.2%. On a comparable basis, sales of grocery and snack products rose 3.4%, while sales of frozen and refrigerated brands improved 3.2%. If you exclude costs related to an ongoing cost-cutting plan and a gain on the sale of a business, overall earnings in the quarter fell 3.0%, to $186.4 million from $192.1 million. Due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share earnings improved 2.2%, to $0.47 from $0.46. However, that missed the consensus estimate of $0.49. Conagra recently…