Expect more gains from these two

Article Excerpt

Conagra’s move to spin off its frozen potato business Lamb Weston in 2016 has spurred the shares of both companies: Conagra is up 9% since the spinoff, while Lamb Weston has soared 67%. A large part of those gains is the smaller size and focus of each company. That makes it easier for Conagra and Lamb Weston to concentrate on improving their individual market share and earnings. With the spinoff, each company has also become an attractive takeover target for larger firms. Still, you should always treat a stock’s takeover potential as a bonus and never the sole reason to invest. CONAGRA BRANDS INC. $38 (New York symbol CAG; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 408.5 million; Market cap: $15.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.conagrabrands.com) makes packaged foods, including Chef Boyardee canned pasta, Hunt’s tomato sauce, Peter Pan peanut butter, Orville Redenbacher popcorn and Reddi-wip whipped cream. Conagra’s sales fell 13.9%, from $9.1 billion…