Continue reading General Mills: Breakfast-at-Home Play

General Mills: Breakfast-at-Home Play originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On Wednesday, General Mills (GIS) will report earnings results for the fiscal third quarter. The cereal maker is expected to do okay. According to Earnings.com, net income is projected to be around 56 cents per share. If the company hits that number, then it will represent a decent bottom-line growth rate.

The stock has a couple things going in its favor. The 52-week high is currently set at $38.98. Shares closed on Monday at a price of $37.12, not far from the peak. In addition, the dividend yield of 3% is attractive.

Continue reading General Mills: A Brief Look Before Earnings

General Mills: A Brief Look Before Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Quarterly reports from Oracle (ORCL), Discover (DFS) and Tiffany (TIF) will highlight news on the earnings front this week.

Elsewhere on the economic calendar, the focus will be on housing, with existing home sales data due from the National Association of Realtors on Monday, new home sales numbers from the Census Bureau on Wednesday and data on housing starts released on Thursday.

Also watch for durable goods orders in February and the final GDP for the fourth quarter.

Continue reading Week in Preview: Housing Data and Late Season Earnings (ORCL, DFS, TIF)

Week in Preview: Housing Data and Late Season Earnings (ORCL, DFS, TIF) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 20 Mar 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

General Mills (GIS) is buying a 50% stake in Yoplait from PAI Partners for roughly $1.1 billion, Reuters reported Thursday, citing sources close to the deal.

The deal is a nice fit for both companies. Yoplait is second to Danone (DANOY) in the yogurt market. General Mills has the industry presence to promote the Yoplait brand, something that would benefit PAI.

For General Mills, Yoplait would add an another revenue stream to an already diversified conglomerate. Some of General Mills' products include cereals, Haagen-Dazs ice cream, Green Giant vegetables and Progresso soup. The company has already been distributing Yoplait for 30 years, so the distribution network is already in place.

Continue reading General Mills Likes Yoplait So Much It's Buying 50% of the Company

General Mills Likes Yoplait So Much It's Buying 50% of the Company originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Food giant General Mills (GIS), first discussed here on April 8, 2009, at a split-adjust price of $25.40 ($50.80 pre-split), has meandered during the past three months, but just look on that pause as a chance to scoop-up some shares of a premiere U.S. company.

And the reasons for the bullish view here are obvious enough. Demonstrated business model General Mills boasts solid brands (Cheerios, Wheaties, Lucky Charms, Total and Chex), good cash flow, economies of scale, and room for international expansion. Add productivity gain, marketing skill and a solid, split-adjust $1.12 annual dividend and GIS is one play that's hard to pass up.

Continue reading Consider General Mills, Because Breakfast-In Is Still 'In'

Consider General Mills, Because Breakfast-In Is Still 'In' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

General Mills (GIS) is one of a group of food processors that are being squeezed by high commodity prices. These companies are caught between a reluctant consumer and having to pay more for raw materials like wheat, corn and soybeans.

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports that General Mills' profit for the quarter rose to $613.9 million or 92 cents per share, compared with $565.5 million or 83 cents per share last year. Excluding the value of commodity hedges, earnings slipped to 76 cents from 77 cents a share. Net sales rose to $4.07 billion. Volume increased 3%. Gross margins fell to 40.2% from 42.8%

Continue reading General Mills Profit Squeezed by Higher Commodity Prices

General Mills Profit Squeezed by Higher Commodity Prices originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After a summer stock dip, food giant General Mills (GIS), first discussed here on April 8, 2009, split-adjust price of $25.40 ($50.80 per-split), is reasserting itself, and with good reason.

General Mills boasts solid brands (Cheerios, Wheaties, Lucky Charms, Total and Chex), good cash flow, economies of scale, and room for international expansion. Add productivity gains, demonstrated marketing skill, and a solid, split-adjust $1.12 annual dividend and GIS is one play that's hard to pass up.

Continue reading General Mills: U.S. Frugal Consumer Play

General Mills: U.S. Frugal Consumer Play originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

General Mills (GIS) option was active on call volume of 88K contracts, compared to put volume of 8K contracts. October put option implied volatility is at 28, January is at 25, above its 26-week average of 21, according to Track Data. The active call volume suggests traders taking positions for price movement.

Stocks with implied volatility below index mean range: Genzyme (GENZ), Potash (POT) and Chelsea Therapeutic (CHTP), according to IVolatility.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: General Mills Calls Active on Elevated Volatility originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 25 Sep 2010 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading General Mills Profit Rises as Cereal, Organic Products Sales Grow

General Mills Profit Rises as Cereal, Organic Products Sales Grow originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 22 Sep 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here is a common sentiment about the stock market: "No fun at all. As I have said before, I believe it has turned into one big casino largely divorced from its original goal of providing capital to companies who produce something of value."

There's a lot of truth to what "granny" recently said to me in an e-mail. Fortunately she also noted "FYI Granny's up 5.86% + dividends." That would give her a gain of about 10% in the past ten months since I posted Where should granny put $50,000, suggesting a very conservative portfolio for an uncertain time.

Not only has she earned a very nice return, surpassing her CD account by 9.5% (20 fold), but she was able to do so with a great deal less volatility than the overall market most of us have lived through.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Granny Said, 'It Has Turned into One Big Casino'

Chasing Value: Granny Said, 'It Has Turned into One Big Casino' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading General Mills Sued over Fruit Roll Ups

General Mills Sued over Fruit Roll Ups originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading General Mills Down After Q4 Report

General Mills Down After Q4 Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The calendar quarter winds down this week, and in the days leading up to the Independence Day holiday in the U.S., Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) is expected to be an earnings winner. General Mills (GIS) and Monsanto (MON) are scheduled to report quarterly results this week as well, but analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect them to post smaller profits.

Analysts on average expect for-profit education provider Apollo Group to report that its fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 18.7% from a year ago to $1.55 per share. Revenue for the three months that ended in May is expected to have risen 23.2% in the past year to $1.3 billion. Apollo Group's per-share earnings have topped consensus estimates in the past five quarters, by as much as 13 cents per share. The First Call recommendation of analysts is to buy APOL and has been for more than 90 days. Shares have fallen 28.6% in the past three months and reached a 52-week low of $43.49 on Friday.

Continue reading The Week in Preview: Expectations for Apollo Group, General Mills, Monsanto

The Week in Preview: Expectations for Apollo Group, General Mills, Monsanto originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Baird upgraded C.H. Robinson (CHRW) to outperform from neutral and has a $67 target on the stock. The firm upgraded shares citing growth opportunities given the capacity constrained environment.
• UBS upgraded Navistar (NAV) to buy from neutral, citing improved trucker preferences towards the company's engine technology.
• KeyBanc upgraded Crane (CR) to buy from hold based on valuation stabilization and potential upside in aerospace, among other reasons. The firm has a $39 target on the stock.
• United Therapeutics (UTHR) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Equifax (EFX) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Stephens.
• Brown & Brown (BRO) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.
  

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ANDS, AZO, CHRW, CR, CRM, FDO, GIS, K, NAV, ORCL ...

Analyst Calls: ANDS, AZO, CHRW, CR, CRM, FDO, GIS, K, NAV, ORCL ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Jun 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Dole Food Company, Inc. (DOLE) is, at the time of this writing, down 76 cents to $9.98. That's a loss in value of 7%. The company had posted its Q1 numbers after the bell on Monday. The market is obviously not infatuated with them today.

According to the press release, adjusted EBITDA dropped to $85 million from $122 million. Net cash from operating activities plunged to $19 million from $39 million. These are not attractive statistics. A bad market environment in Europe and Asia apparently hurt the performance of fresh fruit.

Continue reading Dole Food: Sell After Q1?

Dole Food: Sell After Q1? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 11 May 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading General Mills Will Split 2-for-1

General Mills Will Split 2-for-1 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 May 2010 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I'm going to take a quick look at two companies that released earnings on Thursday. First up is Eastman Kodak (EK), but I'll tell you this: EK was anything but up. The stock closed off 16.9% by the end of the session. Volume was exceptionally high. But does this mean Kodak is a buy or a sell?

Back in January, Kodak rallied on its Q4 numbers; at that time, analysts and their projections were destroyed by the strong report. I, however, remained bearish on the company because of its turnaround status, preferring to focus on the risk of the situation instead of the forward-looking potential.

Continue reading Quarterly Earnings: Eastman Kodak and Kellogg

Quarterly Earnings: Eastman Kodak and Kellogg originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 30 Apr 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

General Mills (GIS), whose colleagues at the food markets include Kellogg (K), Kraft Foods (KFT), and Campbell Soup (CPB), performed well in the fiscal third quarter. On an adjusted basis, net income increased 23% to 97 cents per diluted share. This beat estimates by four pennies.

General Mills was able to expand the gross margin by keeping an eye on efficiency opportunities and optimizing the overall quality of the inventory mix. Of course, there was a little luck involved, too, as commodity costs weren't as expensive as they previously had been. It's always good when that happens.

Continue reading General Mills Reports Impressive Income Increase in Q3

General Mills Reports Impressive Income Increase in Q3 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The coming week will bring late-season earnings reports from Best Buy Inc. (BBY), ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Walgreen Co. (WAG), all of which are expected to post earnings and revenue growth, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Below is a closer look at a few other companies reporting this week for which expectations are high.

In the three months that ended in January, Williams-Sonoma (WSM) saw strong holiday sales, declared a quarterly dividend, and announced the retirement of its CEO. Analysts expect the San Francisco-based home products retailer to report that fiscal fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled from the same period of last year to $0.74 per share. Revenue for the period is expected to be 6.2% higher to $1.1 billion. For the full year, the forecast calls for earnings of $0.81 per share (+56.8%) on $3.1 billion in revenue (-8.3%). Williams-Sonoma earnings results have been better than expected in recent quarters -- beating consensus estimates by more than 200% in the third quarter.

Continue reading The Week in Preview: Eye on General Mills, Tiffany, Williams-Sonoma and more

The Week in Preview: Eye on General Mills, Tiffany, Williams-Sonoma and more originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This afternoon, I'm going to take a look at earnings releases from two companies in the food industry. One is a maker of a very famous ketchup product, and the other is instrumental in supplying consumers with the tools they need to put together a delicious peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich.

Let's start with the company responsible for the crimson condiment. H.J. Heinz Company (HNZ) delivered one heck of a report. The summary (of continuing operations), proudly trumpeted at the top of the Q3 release, is indicative of a business hitting on many, if not all, cylinders. Sales grew nearly 13%. Emerging markets were robust. Earnings came in at 83 cents per share, which was 9% higher than the comparable period's bottom line.

Continue reading Two Quarterly Reports from the Food Sector: Heinz and J.M. Smucker

Two Quarterly Reports from the Food Sector: Heinz and J.M. Smucker originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.