These foodmakers gain from reopening

Article Excerpt

The shares of Conagra and Lamb Weston have rebounded strongly from last year’s COVID-19 lows. Still, they’ve settled into a narrow range in past few weeks as consumers start to spend less on groceries as pandemic restrictions are relaxed. Still, re-opening of restaurants should help offset that drop. CONAGRA BRANDS INC. $35 is a buy. The company (New York symbol CAG; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 480.0 million; Market cap: $16.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 3.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.conagrabrands.com) makes a variety of popular foods, including Chef Boyardee canned pasta, Hunt’s tomato sauce, Orville Redenbacher popcorn and Reddi-wip whipped cream. In October 2018, Conagra acquired foodmaker Pinnacle Foods Inc. for $8.03 billion (64% cash, 36% stock). If you consider that firm’s debt, the price rises to $10.9 billion. Pinnacle’s top brands include Duncan Hines (cake mixes), Vlasic (pickles) and Wish-Bone (salad dressings). So far, Conagra has cut $270 million from its annual costs; it expects to meet its…