Topic: How To Invest

Hi Pat: Do you recommend Monsanto?

Article Excerpt

Monsanto Co., $61.85, symbol MON on New York (Shares outstanding: 545.7 million; Market cap: $33.8 billion), is a multinational company that sells technology-based agricultural products to farmers, grain processors and food companies. Monsanto has two business segments. Its Seeds and Genomics division, which provides 62% of the company’s sales, makes genetically modified seeds for corn, soybeans and other crops. These seeds produce higher crop yields than regular seeds because they are more resistant to insects and bad weather. Monsanto gets the remaining 38% of its sales from its Agricultural Productivity division, which makes herbicides for farmers under the Roundup brand. This division also makes lawn-and-garden herbicides for residential customers. In its second quarter, which ended February 28, 2010, Monsanto earned $887 million, or $1.63 a share. That’s down 18.8% from $1.1 billion, or $1.97 a share, a year earlier. The weak economy pushed down prices for herbicides, including Roundup; that was the main reason for the lower earnings. Monsanto is cutting its…