Topic: Growth Stocks

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, June 28, 2013

Article Excerpt

CONAGRA FOODS INC., $34.93, New York symbol CAG, rose 5% this week after it reported better-than-expected earnings. In its 2013 fiscal year, which ended May 26, 2013, ConAgra earned $773.9 million, or $1.85 a share. That’s up 65.4% from $467.9 million, or $1.12 a share, in 2012. These gains are mainly due to Ralcorp Holdings, the largest maker of private label food in the U.S., which ConAgra recently bought for $4.75 billion. If you disregard costs to integrate this purchase and other unusual items, ConAgra’s earnings would have risen 17.4%, to $2.16 a share from $1.84. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $2.15 a share. Sales rose 15.9%, to $15.5 billion from $13.4 billion. Ralcorp contributed $1.25 billion to the 2013 sales. ConAgra also raised the prices of branded products like Hunt’s ketchup, Peter Pan peanut butter and Slim Jim meat snacks. Excluding unusual items, the company expects its earnings to rise to $2.40 a share in…