Yesterday, a 4 kids approached me as I made a salad in Whole Foods. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
A Salad Or A Big Mac? The Choice Is Not Always So Clear
Tag Archives: Whole Foods
The Five Highest Base Salaries In CEO America
By Paul Hodgson, Contributor There’s been a lot of publicity lately for CEOs earning $1 in base salary – the likes of Larry Ellison at Oracle, John Mackey at Whole Foods and Meg Whitman at Hewlett-Packard, though it is only John Mackey who is restrained elsewhere in his package, the others can earn millions in stock and incentives. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
Why I Finally Bought Whole Foods Stock
By Steve Symington, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Over the past two decades, organic grocer Whole Foods Market has quietly proven itself to be one of the most incredible growth stories our stock market has to offer.
Take a look at what Whole Foods stock has done for investors since its IPO in 1992:
Source: WFM Total Return Price data by YCharts.
And, no, that “K” isn’t a typo. Including dividends, Whole Foods stock has indeed helped early investors return more than 30 times their money.
Lately, however, many are wondering whether the stock has already seen its best days, especially after the shares dropped like a sack of potatoes following the release of the company’s less-than-stellar fiscal first-quarter results back in February.
So why buy now?
As a result, you might be wondering why I finally decided to add shares of Whole Foods Market to my personal portfolio earlier this week. After all, haven’t we already missed the party?
In a word: Nope.
As I pointed out two months ago, the quarterly results weren’t all that bad. In fact, the company remains solidly profitable, and still expects sales growth for 2013 to come in between 10% and 11%. Short-term oriented traders, however, weren’t too keen on the fact that it was a decrease from the 13.7% growth achieved in 2012.
Curiously enough, the primary culprit for the miss lies in Whole Foods‘ insistence on focusing more energy on value-oriented items to broaden their consumer appeal. As fellow Fool Joe Tenebruso noted recently, “Whole Foods is a company that is doing well by doing good,” and fast-becoming a “lifestyle brand” where people want to shop. Why? Because they trust its quality, enjoy the experience, and believe management when they say the company wants to make a positive difference in the world.
Source: Whole Foods.
In short, Whole Foods is about as Foolish (with a capital “f”) a company as they come, and any investor can feel great about owning its stock.
What’s more, Whole Foods management plans to increase the total number of domestic stores to 1,000, or nearly triple the 345 total locations it currently maintains. If that sounds aggressive, consider that grocery giant Safeway currently has more than 1,600 locations, and the behemoth SUPERVALU boasted more than 5,000 stores at the end of last year. Compared to both Safeway and SUPERVALU, at least, Whole Foods has plenty of room to grow — and plenty of market share to grab along the way.
As it stands, Whole Foods is currently building around 10 new units per quarter, so it’s safe to say that today’s investors can still enjoy many years of steady, predictable growth going forward. And thanks to its strong free cash flow and cash and investments of $1.2 billion at the end of last quarter, the company should have no problems financing both its expansion and $0.20-per-share quarterly dividend.
As usual, this is a long-term play for me, so I fully intend to hold Whole Foods stock in my portfolio
From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/12/why-i-finally-bought-shares-of-whole-foods/
10 Ways to Eat Green and Save Money
By Siobhan Adcock April is Earth Month, but for many food-lovers, that doesn’t necessarily mean making radical changes in the kitchen. Eating locally, seasonally, and sustainably has long been a rallying cry in the food community, since knowing your food and where it comes from is good for people, for farmers, and for the Earth. But one common objection to sustainable eating is that eating “green” or “organic” is expensive (we’ve all heard the one about how Whole Foods should be called Whole Paycheck). And it’s a sad and sobering truth that in all too many communities in America, healthy whole foods are difficult to obtain, and often come at a price that’s higher than unhealthy convenience foods. For many, the challenge is to find a way to eat sustainably and affordably. So we talked to Nature Conservancy expert Sarene Marshall about eating green on a budget in honor of Earth Month. Her inspiring, affordable, and doable suggestions: Eat less meat. Marshall says, “The amount of land, water and fossil fuels that go into producing meat, especially beef, is astonishing, and that’s partly reflected in the price. I always have sticker-shock when I see the price of steak on a menu or in the grocery store.” Try swapping in beans and mushrooms for cost-conscious, tasty, and filling protein alternatives. Grow your own produce. “Carbon pricing in the coming decades is likely to change the cost of eating out-of-season foods flown from far corners of the globe,” Marshall says. “We don’t realize it’s not normal to have grapes or blueberries in the grocery store in January. A statistic that has always struck me is that, during World War II, America grew almost half of its fresh produce in community gardens.” She points out that herbs in particular are expensive and highly perishable and easy to grow at home, even if you only have a windowsill or balcony for a few pots. “If you have a tad more space, focus on growing highly perishable items that come at a high economic or environmental cost when grown commercially, like salad greens and tomatoes.” Pick your own. “Since you provide the labor and transportation and skip the middlemen, pick-your-own prices are often lower,” Marshall says. “Our family picks fruit at least three times a year, and we can enjoy the delicious fruits of our labor for weeks or months afterwards,” especially with clever storage and freezing, which brings her to… Freeze, store, and save. Extend the lifespan of produce and get more for your money by employing Marshall’s smart storing and freezing strategies. “Reusable, air-tight containers for the fridge and pantry are an investment that will pay dividends for years. Freeze food to extend its life but do it in user-friendly ways: flash-freeze items on a cookie sheet so you don’t end up with a solid mass of berries or cutlets that takes forever to defrost. Label leftovers, since ‘Unidentified Frozen Objects‘ are likely to end up in the trash. I use bright labels so everyone knows…<div
Did Whole Foods Jump the Wild-Caught Shark?
By Joe Tenebruso and Richard Engdahl, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
At Tier 1 Investments, I seek out and invest in elite businesses. These include companies with the most valuable brands, best management, superior products and services, and strongest competitive advantages.
Is Whole Foods a culinary destination? Is it a neighborhood bar? Is it a lifestyle? Or is it just a fancy-pants grocery store that’s trying too hard?
It’s hard to believe that a grocery store could book investors more than 30 times their initial investment, but that’s just what Whole Foods has done for those who saw the organic trend coming some 20 years ago. However, it may not be too late to participate in the long-term growth of this organic foods powerhouse. In this brand-new premium report on the company, we walk through the key must-know items for every Whole Foods investor, including the main opportunities and threats facing the company. So make sure to claim your copy today by clicking here.
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From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/11/did-whole-foods-jump-the-wild-caught-shark/
This Is the Real Threat to Inefficient Retailers
By Jacob Roche, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
A recent article in Bloomberg Businessweek highlighted a problem that should be obvious to many: Cutting costs by laying off employees eventually starts to be counterproductive and hurts the business. There’s trimming the fat, which can be good for a business and improve efficiency and profitability, but past that you’re just cutting into the muscle and bone, which is what the article suggests Wal-Mart is doing.
Dieting too far
The problem is that Wal-Mart has continued to increase its store presence over the last five years, but has only barely increased the number of employees staffing those stores. Wal-Mart opened 3,511 new stores globally between 2007 and 2012, increasing its total square footage by 23%, but only increased its workforce by 5% during that time. As a result, stores are having trouble keeping shelves stocked, and customers are taking their business elsewhere.
This is a topic near to my heart, as I’ve found that Safeway suffers the same problem. It’s not uncommon for my local store to have one employee running the register, with a half-hour-long line snaking all the way to the back of the store, and merchandise simply sitting in crates in the aisles. On a hunch, I compared the number of employees per 1,000 square feet at various stores, and the results are not surprising:
|
Company |
2007 Employees |
2012 Employees |
% Change |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Costco |
1.85 |
2.00 |
8.16% |
|
Wal-Mart |
2.42 |
2.05 |
(15.02%) |
|
Safeway |
2.50 |
2.20 |
(11.86%) |
|
Whole Foods Market |
5.65 |
5.71 |
1.06% |
Source: Companies’ 10-K filings.
Costco and Whole Foods have increased, or at least held steady, the number of employees staffing their stores, while Safeway and Wal-Mart have both had a sizable drop. Long lines and empty shelves will ultimately encourage customers to go to better-staffed competitors, and that seems to be exactly what has happened over the last few years. Costco and Whole Foods have both dramatically increased sales, while Safeway and Wal-Mart have lagged significantly.
The looming threat
But there’s one company that hasn’t been mentioned yet that has increased its employment far more than even Costco or Whole Foods, and has increased its sales by far more as well. This company has the same sell-everything approach to retail that Wal-Mart and Costco have, and, like Wal-Mart, has been branching into grocery over the last few years, but it has significantly less floor space to keep stocked.
If you guessed Amazon.com , you are correct! Amazon increased its labor force from 17,000 employees to 88,400 from 2007 to 2012, and while it doesn’t have store shelves to stock or front-end registers to run, it does have rapidly growing sales that require more warehouse personnel, more customer service representatives, and other employees to keep things running smoothly.
COST Revenue TTM data by YCharts.
Amazon presents the real threat to inefficient retailers. A customer might be willing to just try Wal-Mart another day, rather than drive all the way to Costco to see if it has an out-of-stock item, but why even
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
KKR Partners With Colonie Pacific to Acquire N.Y. Mall
By Tim Brugger, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Colonie Center, an upscale mall located approximately two miles from the University of Albany in New York, has been purchased by KKR and Colonie Pacific, a partnership consisting of Pacific Retail Capital Partners, Peter Fair of Continuum Partners, and Collarmele Partners, KKR announced Tuesday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Colonie Center is the third real estate transaction completed by KKR since 2011, according to the announcement, and consists of 1.3 million square feet of retail space on 91 acres, with more than 113 existing stores. The mall is situated in a high-traffic area, with approximately 117,000 commuters passing the site daily, according to the company. Colonie Center underwent a “significant renovation” in 2007, according to the announcement, and generates approximately $245 million in total sales annually, equal to about $400 in retail sales per square foot.
The national retailers occupying Colonie Center include Macy’s, Sears, L.L. Bean, and The Cheesecake Factory, along with a Whole Foods that is expected to open in 2014. KKR and Colonie Pacific also announced they intend to make additional acquisitions in the future, though no specific properties were mentioned.
The article KKR Partners With Colonie Pacific to Acquire N.Y. Mall originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Tim Brugger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Whole Foods Market. The Motley Fool owns shares of Whole Foods Market. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
KKR to Invest in Colonie Center
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
KKR to Invest in Colonie Center
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– KKR today announced that affiliates and clients of KKR, including KKR Financial Holdings LLC (“KFN”) (NYS: KFN) , in partnership with Colonie Pacific, acquired Colonie Center (“Colonie” or “the Center”). Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Colonie is a 1.3 million square foot super-regional mall with over 113 stores that sit on 91 acres in Albany, New York. The Center, located directly off of I-87 at the intersection of Wolf Road and Central Avenue where an average of 117,000 vehicles pass daily, benefits from being in a high-traffic area and within two miles of the University at Albany. The property generates an estimated $245 million in retail sales, including anchors with specialty retail stores producing an estimated $400 per square foot.
Anchored by Macy’s, Boscov’s and Sears, the mall features a strong line-up of national retailers, including Aeropostale, American Eagle, Christmas Tree Shops, Express, Sephora and Victoria’s Secret. Colonie also has a 13-screen Regal Cinemas and a Whole Foods that is anticipated to open in 2014.
In 2007, Colonie Center underwent a significant renovation that incorporated a “lifestyle” retail component and an improved streetscape and attracted national destination tenants such as L.L. Bean, P.F. Chang’s and Cheesecake Factory.
KKR and Colonie Pacific, a partnership between Pacific Retail Capital Partners, Collarmele Partners and Peter Fair (Continuum Partners), plan to make additional capital investments and will also focus on attracting new tenants to the market.
Ralph Rosenberg, a Member of KKR and Head of the firm’s Real Estate group, stated: “Colonie is an institutional-quality asset with tailwinds from a significant recent renovation. With additional investment and a revamped leasing strategy, Colonie will be an even more attractive home for current and prospective retailers in Albany. The transition in ownership will be seamless for shoppers, and our goal is to make the shopping experience even better than it is today.”
Colonie is KKR‘s third retail real estate investment since 2011 and ninth overall. KKR‘s real estate investment team seeks to partner with real estate owners, lenders, operators and developers to provide flexible capital to respond to transaction-specific needs, including the outright purchase or financing of existing assets or companies and the funding of future development or acquisition opportunities.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal Counsel to KKR.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Is Monsanto Worthless?
By Sara Murphy, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
The campus of the FDA‘s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition is under siege today, and it has everything to do with Monsanto . Members of the Occupy Monsanto movement are staging an all-day “eat-in” to label food products that contain genetically engineered (GE) ingredients. They’re easy to dismiss, like an especially curmudgeonly Facebook commenter who described them as “hordes of crazed, anti-Monsanto, vegetarian hippies” did. That may well be true, but they are part of a broader movement that could pose a challenge to ag biotech’s comfortable dominion over our food supply.
Label it
There is a growing movement among grassroots activists, NGOs, and natural and organic food companies to require labeling of food products containing GE ingredients. Whole Foods , the leading natural foods grocer, recently committed to labeling all of its products voluntarily within five years. Big Food companies spent heavily on campaigns against a proposition in California that would have mandated labeling and successfully torpedoed the bill. But there’s more where that came from. Vermont, Connecticut, and Iowa all have some form of labeling requirement making its way through the legislative process.
The New York Times recently reported that 20 major companies, including PepsiCo, ConAgra, and Wal-Mart, met in Washington, D.C., to lobby the FDA for a federal GE-labeling law. The idea is that companies prefer one federal law to a proliferation of state laws that would add to their compliance burden. Implicit in that notion is that a labeling requirement is inevitable.
All three branches of government?
The Supreme Court heard arguments on Feb. 21 in the case of Bowman v. Monsanto Co. The central question is whether farmers who buy Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soybean seeds are free to do as they wish with the seeds harvested from those plantings. The justices seemed almost unanimously opposed to the farmers’ arguments, and they appear poised to rule in Monsanto’s favor. In a highly unusual move, the U.S. government not only filed an amicus brief supporting Monsanto but also sent a government attorney to argue on the company’s behalf, highlighting the Obama administration’s support for several elements of Monsanto’s argument.
In March, Congress passed and President Obama signed H.R. 933, a law that anti-GE advocates have dubbed the “Monsanto Protection Act.” Section 735 strips federal courts of the authority to halt the sale and propagation of genetically modified seeds and crops if concerns about health risks arise during safety tests. Did you catch that? Let’s pretend we’re talking about cribs instead of seeds. The corollary law would then say that if little babies’ fingers kept getting chopped off in crib safety testing, the courts couldn’t get involved. Disgraceful.
Senator Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), one of section 735’s biggest supporters, worked with Monsanto to craft the language in the bill. Section 735 is attached to a continuing resolution that only holds for the next six months, so it is not yet …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Do Kids Really Want Bean Sprouts With Their Big Macs?
By Rich Duprey, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
The Center for Science in the Public Interest issued a report last week detailing that when it comes to kids’ meals, fast-food chains such as McDonald’s , Wendy’s , and Burger King offer up a healthy dose of unhealthy food.
After testing the restaurants’ meals, the researchers found they aren’t healthy because they contain too high amounts of fat, salt, and sugary drinks and recommended that more wholesome fare become the norm.
Pictured: Big Mac. Source: McDonald’s.
The CSPI report singled out Buffalo Wild Wings as being one of the worst offenders, with one meal for kids having twice the recommended intake of sodium.
Also discovered: Water is wet
I can’t be the only one not surprised by the findings. While we might wish that McDonald’s served bean sprouts with its Happy Meals, two things need to be remembered: That’s not what kids want to eat, and that’s not what you’re looking to buy when you go to a fast-food restaurant. It’s also something for parents to do in their home, not for public-policy advocates to give meddlesome politicians like New York City‘s nanny mayor, Michael Bloomberg, another avenue to attack individual choice.
Besides, fast-food restaurants have tried the healthy kick before, and it’s typically been a failure. Does anyone remember Wendy’s Super Bar salad bars or the Tomato Surprise? How about McDonald’s McLean Deluxe (with seaweed extract!) or the McSpaghetti? Does the Dairy Queen Breeze frozen yogurt drink ring any bells?
More than likely, if you tried them, you’re trying to forget them, and I apologize for dredging up bad memories — but it’s delusional to think you go to a greasy-burger joint for healthy fare. If you want that for lunch, go to Whole Foods. They’re building greenhouses on their rooftops to pick fresh veggies.
I yam what I yam
At least some of the restaurants the CSPI surveyed didn’t disguise the fact that their food is a guilty pleasure, for adults and kids alike. Of the top 50 chains, 18%, including Domino’s Pizza, Dunkin Brands‘ Dunkin’ Donuts, and Papa John’s didn’t have a so-called “kids’ menu.”
I’m sure the researchers realized that a kid-oriented menu doesn’t automatically mean healthy food (I’d kinda expect the exact opposite, as a matter of fact). Rather, it simply means a smaller portion of an adult meal. Parents do have to monitor what their kids eat, but they can be allowed to splurge, too. And there are alternatives out there: Subway, sushi bars, and — again — organic food stores abound.
Do as I say, not as I do
Sounding a lot like Mayor Bloomberg, the CSPI recommends that restaurants remove sugary drinks from their kids’ menus, offer more fruit and vegetables — and make them the default menu option instead of fries — and serve more whole grains.
Yet when first lady Michelle Obama foisted healthier school lunches on students after her Let’s Move! organization got the president to sign a bill mandating them, follow-up surveys found that …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
6 Stocks for the Weekend Warrior
By Chris Hill, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
The following video is from Friday’s Investor Beat, in which host Chris Hill and analysts Charly Travers and Jason Moser dissect the hardest-hitting investing stories of the day.
In today’s edition, our analysts take a look at three major habits of the typical weekend: home improvement, physical fitness, and the occasional adult beverage. We give you two of our favorite picks for investors in each of these categories, and tell you why we love them. Those stories, plus two stocks coming up on our radar for the week ahead.
Whole Foods Market is one great way many investors are playing the new health craze in the U.S. It’s hard to believe that a grocery store could book investors more than 30 times their initial investment, but that’s just what Whole Foods has done for those who saw the organic trend coming some 20 years ago. However, it may not be too late to participate in the long-term growth of this organic foods powerhouse. In this brand-new premium report on the company, we walk through the key must-know items for every Whole Foods investor, including the main opportunities and threats facing the company. So make sure to claim your copy today by clicking here.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
2 Healthy Stocks to Watch Right Now
By Chris Hill, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
The following video is from Friday’s Investor Beat, in which host Chris Hill, and analysts Charly Travers and Jason Moser dissect the hardest-hitting investing stories of the day.
In this installment of Investor Beat, our analysts discuss the health and fitness space, and explain why they’re watching Whole Foods and Under Armour .
It’s hard to believe that a grocery store could book investors more than 30 times their initial investment, but that’s just what Whole Foods has done for those who saw the organic trend coming some 20 years ago. However, it may not be too late to participate in the long-term growth of this organic foods powerhouse. In this brand-new premium report on the company, we walk through the key must-know items for every Whole Foods investor, including the main opportunities and threats facing the company. So make sure to claim your copy today by clicking here.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
3 Buy-Now Stocks From the "World's Greatest Retirement Portfolio"
By Brian Stoffel, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
A full 23 months ago, I started identifying 10 companies that I would be putting $40,000 of my own retirement money behind. This was, has been, and will continue to be my way of helping the world to invest better.
Since then, that sum of money has grown to $50,960 — a 27.4% increase and $1,320 better than if I had just invested the money in the S&P 500.
Every month, I look over these stocks to see which three are tempting. I call these my “Buy Now” stocks because I think they’re pretty good deals. Read the chart below to see how the whole portfolio has performed, check out my best buys, and at the end I’ll offer up access to a special premium report on one of the 10 stocks that’s been floundering lately.
|
Company |
Publication Date |
Change |
Vs. S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
64.4% |
38 |
|
|
Pricesmart |
56.7% |
31 |
|
|
Baidu * |
-20.8% |
(44) |
|
|
Intuitive Surgical |
22.4% |
1 |
|
|
National Oilwell Varco |
-11.8% |
(37) |
|
|
Coca-Cola |
28.1% |
3 |
|
|
Whole Foods |
40.3% |
19 |
|
|
Amazon |
26.1% |
3 |
|
|
Apple |
33.8% |
11 |
|
|
Johnson & Johnson |
34.7% |
8 |
|
Source: Fool.com. All numbers accurate as of market close March 31, 2013. *Returns are for position in ATVI held from July 15, 2011, to Sept. 9, 2012, and transferred over to BIDU on Sept. 15, 2012.
Baidu
First on my list of best buys is a company that’s been a mainstay on here: Chinese search engine giant Baidu. To be honest, anyone following this portfolio is probably tired of hearing my reasoning for thinking Baidu is such a great stock at this price, so — at the risk of exposing myself to big-time confirmation bias — here’s a sampling of other Fool analysts who have been singling the stock out.
- Just this week, Fool Daniel Sparks called Baidu out as one of two stocks to buy this month, saying: “Baidu’s substantial investments in research and infrastructure promise to create more opportunities.”
- Fool Dan Caplinger called Baidu his one stock to buy in April, reminding investors: “Baidu has expansion plans beyond China, and its prospects for picking up market share in other lucrative emerging Internet markets look bright.”
- And technology guru Andrew Tonner called Baidu the best value in all of technology, saying: “Every so often the stock market does investors a real favor and that’s the case with Baidu.”
I don’t point these three out to say, “See? I’m right!” Rather, as I myself am running out of new reasons to say the stock‘s a buy, I’m offering some other opinions, all voiced within the past two weeks.
National Oilwell Varco
In a perfect world, we’d be able to use the energy the sun gives us to meet our wants — that’s the way it worked …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
ConAgra Reports Lower Profit on Acquisition Charges
Filed under: Earnings, Consumer Goods, Food & Beverage, Products
NEW YORK — ConAgra reported a third-quarter profit that fell shy of Wall Street expectations as the maker of Chef Boyardee and Hebrew National hot dogs booked charges related to its acquisition of Ralcorp and struggled to grow sales for its existing brands.
The Omaha, Neb.-based company had announced last year that it was buying Ralcorp Holdings, which makes store- brand products such as cookies and pretzels for retailers including Kroger, Target and Whole Foods. ConAgra noted at the time that such products are gaining popularity in the U.S. as supermarkets and drug store chains improve their offerings as a way to cultivate shopper loyalty.
The deal, which closed on Jan. 29, made ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG) the nation’s biggest producer of store brands.
In its consumer foods segment, ConAgra said sales rose 7 percent in the quarter as a result of acquisitions and a more favorable mix of prices and packages. But sales volume for existing brands declined 3 percent. The company’s other brands include Hunt’s ketchup, Slim Jim and Marie Callender‘s frozen meals.
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In the commercial food segment, which provides goods to restaurant chains and other outlets, sales rose 1 percent. The company noted that its Lamb Weston potato unit benefited from higher prices, which offset a volume decline that resulted primarily from softness in Asian markets.
For the three months ended Feb. 24, ConAgra said it earned $120 million, or 29 cents. That’s down from $280.1 million, or 67 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Not including one-time items, the company said it earned 55 cents a share. Analysts on average expected a profit of 56 cents a share.
Revenue rose 13 percent to $3.85 billion, which was also shy of the $3.9 billion that Wall Street expected.
Its shares were down more than 3 percent at $34.30 in premarket trading.
ConAgra stood by its full-year guidance of adjusted net income of $2.15 a share, representing a 17 percent increase from the previous year. The forecast includes a 5-cents-per-share benefit from its acquisition of Ralcorp. Next year, the company expects a 25-cents-a-share benefit from the acquisition.
Analysts expect annual earnings each share of $2.16.
The board also declared a regular quarterly dividend of 25 cents a share, payable May 31 to shareholders of record April 30.
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The "World's Greatest Retirement Portfolio" Continues to Outperform
By Brian Stoffel, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
It’s been almost 23 months since I introduced the World’s Greatest Retirement Portfolio to Foolish readers. This was, has been, and will continue to be my way of helping the world to invest better. Putting my money where my mouth is, I pledged to put at least $4,000 behind each stock and attempt to hold each one for at least three years — though I’ve already broken that promise.
Since I began, the market has returned 24.1%, which is pretty darn good by historical measures. Though this portfolio has been outperforming the market by double digits for well over a year now, it is currently ahead by just 3.3 percentage points.
Read below to see why the margin between the two is narrowing, and at the end, I’ll offer up access to a special premium report on one of these 10 companies.
|
Company |
Publication Date |
Change |
Vs. S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
64.4% |
38 |
|
|
PriceSmart |
56.7% |
31 |
|
|
Baidu |
(20.8%) |
(44) |
|
|
Intuitive Surgical |
22.4% |
1 |
|
|
National Oilwell Varco |
(11.8%) |
(37) |
|
|
Coca-Cola |
28.1% |
3 |
|
|
Whole Foods |
40.3% |
19 |
|
|
Amazon.com |
26.1% |
3 |
|
|
Apple |
33.8% |
11 |
|
|
Johnson & Johnson |
34.7% |
8 |
|
Source: Fool.com. All numbers accurate as of market close March 31, 2013. *Returns are for position in ATVI held from July 15, 2011, to Sept. 9, 2012, and transferred over to BIDU on Sept. 15, 2012.
One company that can’t catch a break
More or less, the companies in this portfolio didn’t perform terribly during the month of March, they just weren’t able to keep pace with the S&P 500, which climbed over 3% during the month. That wasn’t the case, however, for Intuitive Surgical , maker of the da Vinci surgical robot.
I’ve covered the stock’s dive already, but there are three simple events that caused the stock to drop. First, the Journal of the American Medical Association questioned the need for robotic hysterectomies. Second, the FDA announced it was investigating a rise in the company’s incidents reports. Finally, the president of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists publicly echoed the concerns raised in the JAMA article.
Three companies having a good month
Even though the portfolio as a whole isn’t leading the market by quite as much, three stocks had a relatively good March.
Shares of Latin American club wholesaler PriceSmart were up 5%. This came on the heels of the announcement that the company’s net sales increased 7.8% during the month of February, which included an impressive 8.9% increase in same-store sales. PriceSmart also announced it has acquired land in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to open up its third store in the country.
The total return from my investments in Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson also increased markedly during March. Part of this was due to the fact that Coke issued its quarterly dividend …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Monsanto Earnings: An Early Look
By Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
The new earnings season is about to begin, but a few companies on off-quarter fiscal years are just now getting around to reporting their quarterly results. Monsanto is about to release its quarterly earnings report. The key to making smart investment decisions with stocks releasing their quarterly reports is to anticipate how they’ll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you’ll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.
Monsanto has cashed in on the success of the agricultural industry in recent years, with its seeds and fertilizer business both contributing to rising yields and farm productivity. Let’s take an early look at what’s been happening with Monsanto over the past quarter and what we’re likely to see in its quarterly report on Wednesday.
Stats on Monsanto
|
Analyst EPS Estimate |
$2.58 |
|
Change From Year-Ago EPS |
13% |
|
Revenue Estimate |
$5.27 billion |
|
Change From Year-Ago Revenue |
11% |
|
Earnings Beats in Past 4 Quarters |
3 |
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
Will Monsanto help its stock grow this quarter?
Analysts have had mixed views on Monsanto’s earnings prospects in recent months, as they’ve cut their consensus on its most recent quarter by a penny per share but boosted their full-year fiscal 2013 earnings call by $0.14 per share. The stock hasn’t had any trouble growing, though, with a 12% gain in the first three months of 2013.
Monsanto is just one of many agricultural companies that have taken advantage of extremely favorable conditions to boost profits. Peers Terra Nitrogen and CVR Partners have seen substantial earnings growth as low input costs for their nitrogen-based fertilizers have helped keep margins extraordinarily wide. Yet fertilizer is fundamentally nothing but a commodity, providing no barrier to entry and no protection against changing conditions in the farm economy.
Monsanto, on the other hand, has its seed technology as a proprietary asset that distinguishes the company from its competitors. Genetically modified seeds have raised plenty of controversy around the world, but they’ve also proven to be valuable, especially with drought-resistant strains having been able to weather the harsh conditions in the Farm Belt last summer. The battle will likely continue, as Whole Foods has required suppliers to disclose whether foods contain genetically modified organisms.
The best news for Monsanto came just days ago, as the company settled a lawsuit with DuPont over a dispute over technology behind engineered seeds. Under the deal, DuPont will make royalty payments of at least $1.75 billion over the next 10 years and allow Monsanto to have access to DuPont patents covering disease-resistance and corn-defoliation traits. DuPont in turn will be allowed to offer Monsanto’s soybean technology, but the big win for Monsanto is the end of legal battles that have distracted both companies …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
1 Stock to Buy for April
By Brian Stoffel, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Earlier this week, I introduced Fools to five different companies I was considering for my Roth IRA in April. I’ve been doing this for more than 20 months now, and my picks are currently outperforming the S&P 500 over the same time frame.
Read below to see what company I’m going to be adding, why I’m passing on the other four, and at the end, I’ll offer access to a special premium report on one of the companies discussed here.
Two companies that are just a little pricey
Now don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against paying what may seem like a high price for companies that I think are top-notch. I bought shares of LinkedIn twice within the past year, and each time the company’s P/E sat above 700!
So far, that’s paid off, as the shares are up substantially. But when there are other stocks that are just as attractive in terms of their innovation, position within their respective markets, and solid management teams, it seems to make a little more sense to move on to the next most reasonable variable: price.
That’s why I’m going to be passing on shares of both LinkedIn and Whole Foods this month. I have no doubt that there is a bright future for both of these companies — they make up almost 9% of my real-life holdings — but I just think there are better options from my five choices this month.
To be honest, this should be my choice…
If this were the very first month that I was starting this series — or contributing to my Roth IRA — there’s no doubt that Baidu , the parent of China‘s largest search engine, would be my first choice.
With an 80% market share in search, more than 500,000 small-business clients currently signed on (which just scratches the surface of the potential 40 million clients) in China, and growth rates that are impressive in both revenue and earnings, you’d think this stock was trading for sky-high prices.
But nothing could be further from the truth. Baidu currently trades for just 13 times expected earnings, and even though the stock itself has been cheaper in the past, its trailing P/E has never been so low –ever.
Source: BIDU P/E Ratio TTM data by YCharts.
But there’s a simple fact that I need to keep in mind: I’ve already bought shares of Baidu three times for this portfolio, and taken as a whole, the company makes up 8% of my overall holdings. Though I’d like to think Baidu is a shoo-in, nothing is guaranteed, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable putting so much money behind one company.
That leaves two energy companies
That leaves me with two quality companies: energy parts supplier National Oilwell Varco and engine maker Cummins . Though this is a particularly difficult decision, as both of these companies are first-rate, I’m going with Cummins this month.
In the end, the potential and …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
15 Reasons to Invest in Bank Stocks Right Now
By John Grgurich, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
When I began investing, bank stocks piqued my curiosity, but they definitely seemed too exotic and too arcane. So, for a long time, I stuck more with consumer-goods type companies, like Starbucks, Whole Foods, and Chipotle.
I’m still in those companies, and they’re performing as well as ever, but I’ve also made the leap into bank stocks, and my portfolio is all the better for it. Banks have actually become some of my best performers.
So as a salute to investable banks, and maybe with the hope of turning others on to the good investment direction I’ve found, here are 15 rapid-fire, easy-to-digest reasons to get some bank stocks into your portfolio right now (in no particular order).
1. Valuations on many banks are very low: The price-to-book ratio for Bank of America is an absurdly low 0.63. Citigroup‘s P/B is only slightly higher: 0.75.
2. “Too big to fail” still lives: Why is this a good reason to buy into a bank? The implicit guarantee of TBTF means that the federal government simply cannot let certain banks fail, so your investment is much safer than it would otherwise be.
For instance, no administration will ever be able to let JPMorgan Chase — the nation’s biggest bank — fail, no matter what crazy thing it might do to get itself into trouble.
3. Balance sheets are cleaner than ever: The housing boom and subsequent crash destroyed the balance sheets of many big banks, like Citi’s and B of A’s, but four-plus years on the banks have made great progress in dealing with their toxic mortgage debt.
4. The housing market is starting to recover: Banks can still make a lot of money the old-fashioned way: lending money and charging interest, and America remains at heart a home-ownership society, even after the most recent boom and bust.
5. The financials sector has serious momentum: In 2012, the financials sector was the best performing sector of the S&P 500. Investors are starting to realize what they’ve been missing, and are therefore driving up share prices.
6. Rising profits: In the fourth quarter, Goldman Sachs reported net-income growth of 185.5%. Wells Fargo reported net-income growth of 23.9%. Those are big numbers.
7. Great stress-test results: For 2013, 17 of the 18 financial institutions the Federal Reserve ran through its simulated, severe economic downturn passed, demonstrating once again how far banks have come since the crash.
8. Dodd-Frank is in effect: The 2010 Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is some of the most far-reaching and comprehensive bank-reform legislation passed since the Great Depression. Well-regulated banks make for safe, stable banks, and therefore better investments.
9. Banks are still viewed with suspicion post-crash: This despite the fact the banks are stronger than ever, which is all the more reason to get in now. And banks are only getting stronger and will increasingly be seen as a profitable way to invest.
10. Many banks already pay solid dividends: Wells Fargo pays …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Why I'm Buying Whole Foods Before Other Investors Realize Their Mistake
By Joe Tenebruso, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
One of the long-term investor’s greatest advantages is the utilization of a concept known as time arbitrage. Investopedia defines time arbitrage as:
An opportunity created when a stock misses its mark and is sold based on a short-term outlook with little change in the long-term prospects of the company. This miss occurs when a company fails to meet earnings estimates by analysts or its guidance, resulting in a short-term stumble where the price of the stock decreases. Some investors use time arbitrage to increase their chances of outperforming the market.
Basically this means that as long-term investors, we can use Wall Street‘s short-term focus to our advantage. As the sell-first-and-ask-questions-later crowd is running for the exits, we can calmly step in and buy shares of great businesses at more attractive prices.
But here’s the key: We must have confidence that the business‘s long-term competitive advantages are still intact. Otherwise, we may be stepping in front of a bus. For if the company’s short-term struggles are signs of further danger ahead, buying ahead of that decline will lead to steep losses. However, if nearsighted traders are overestimating the impact of a temporary downturn in a company’s business performance, buying into that weakness could give long-term-minded Fools a powerful profit opportunity.
The ability to tell the difference between a business that is in a state of decline and one that is only temporarily struggling and poised for a rebound is often a key factor in whether an investor can earn market-beating returns. At Tier 1 Investments, a Motley Fool Real-Money Portfolio, I’ve used time arbitrage to help us achieve a 33.87% return since Tier 1 was launched on Sept. 1, 2011, besting the S&P 500 by 421 basis points over that time. And today, I believe I’ve found another time arbitrage opportunity in Whole Foods Market .
The sell-off
Whole Foods‘ shares are down around 10% since it reported first-quarter results that disappointed Wall Street. The natural-foods grocer beat earnings-per-share expectations by a penny and rang in revenue right in line with estimates, but same-store sales growth of 7.2% fell short, and Whole Foods reduced guidance for the rest of the year. Management also stated that gross margin will likely come under pressure in the coming quarters as Whole Foods expands its value offerings in what can be viewed as an attempt to shed the “Whole Paycheck” moniker and strengthen the value perception of its brand.
The risk
Many traders are concerned that Whole Foods is playing defense by sacrificing gross margins in order to preserve sales that would otherwise be lost to competitors. These bears argue that because of this, Whole Foods no longer deserves its premium valuation, and its stock should continue to decline in price.
I respectfully disagree.
The opportunity
While there’s no denying that competition in the natural and organic foods market has increased, I believe that Whole Foods is going on the offensive by appealing more to the …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Why Investors Should Care About Corporate Responsibility
By Brendan Byrnes, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
In the video below, The Motley Fool speaks with Roger Martin, strategy expert and Dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. We discuss why shareholders of a company should care about corporate responsibility. Martin argues that investors should look for the companies that are using their products to express their corporate responsibility, including companies like Starbucks .
A transcript follows the video.
The full interview with Roger Martin can be seen here, in which we discuss a number of topics including Bill Ackman, innovation, corporate responsibility, executive compensation, and how to pick out great companies. Martin is the coauthor of Playing to Win, a new book focusing on strategy written with former Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley.
If you’re on the hunt for a great stock idea, The Motley Fool’s chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for the next year. Find out which stock it is in the brand-new free report, “The Motley Fool’s Top Stock for 2013.” Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.
Brendan Byrnes: You’ve also done a lot of work on corporate responsibility. How important is that to shareholders of a company, and how do you think potential investors should look at the corporate responsibility of a company when they’re considering an investment?
Roger Martin: I think this is a really, really interesting issue which is still being very much sorted out.
I think there is now a rising tide of desire for corporate responsibility among consumers. Until such time as that happened, I just don’t think that corporations were going to respond, but I think now consumers care more than they ever have before, so I think getting out ahead of sustainability issues and how you treat your employees is important.
Brendan: We talked about conscious capitalism last time. Companies like Whole Foods , Panera , Starbucks starting to do more of this and, actually, if you look back at it over time, seeing better returns. Is that something that you think other companies will take notice and will start to take off and snowball like that?
Roger: I think they will, and I think what is cool about those examples that you’ve given are that the expression of their corporate responsibility is through what they actually do for consumers.
Starbucks saying, “You will get a cup of fair trade coffee.” Coffee is their business, so I like that better than — even though I like corporate philanthropy — than, say, giving money to something that doesn’t relate at all to your business. Whole Foods would be a similar story. I think that’s going to be the trend.
If I was an investor looking at that I’d say, “Boy, I’d rather invest in a company that’s figured out through their business, in a way that supports and enhances their business — those people drinking a cup of coffee from Starbucks …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance