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Bonds Are a 'Safe' Investment: A Big Lie Gets Even BiggerFood giants General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) and ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) are scheduled to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings this week. While cereal-maker General Mills is expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial to post higher profits, frozen-foods packager ConAgra is expected to report a profit decline.
General Mills is expected to report net income of 70 cents per share, up 11.4% from the same period of last year, on revenue of $3.4 billion. The company has tended to provided positive surprises recently -- by eight cents, or 10.4%, in the previous quarter.
Minneapolis-based General Mills is the second largest cereal-maker in the U.S., after Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K). Its other brands include Gold Medal flour, Bisquick, Hamburger Helper, Pop Secret, and Yoplait. The company had revenues in the past year of $12.4 billion and net income $1.1 billion. Its long-term EPS growth forecast is only 8.7%, much less than the industry average but about the same as Kellogg's. The consensus recommendation of analysts remains to buy General Mills.
Shares reached a 52-week high of $63.91 in early June, and closed Monday at $63.40.The share price is up 11.5% since the beginning of the year. It trades at a P/E ratio of 16.60.
ConAgra is expected to report net income of 36 cents per share, down 5.2% from the year-ago period, on revenue of $3.4 billion. The company has provided positive surprises recently -- by 22 cents, or 55.6%, in the previous quarter.
Omaha-based ConAgra is one of the nation's leading producers of packaged foods, as well as one of the largest food-service suppliers. Brands include Chef Boyardee, Egg Beaters, Healthy Choice, Orville Redenbacher's and PAM. In the past year, the company's revenues were $12.0 billion and its net income totaled $764 million. The company's long-range EPS growth forecast is only 8.2%, far less than the industry average and the S&P 500. But the consensus recommendation of analysts has swung from hold to buy ConAgra in the past 90 days.
Shares closed Monday at $22.22. The share price is down 6.6% year to date, and has fallen 12.7% from a year ago. It trades at a P/E ratio of 11.95.
General Mills is scheduled to report earnings Wednesday morning, ConAgra on Thursday morning.
For more news that could influence the results, see BloggingStocks' General Mills and ConAgra coverage.
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