Pre-Thanksgiving Earnings Previews: Campbell Soup, Tyson Foods and More

After J.M. Smucker

posted

and lifted its outlook on Friday, more big food processing companies are on the schedule to share earnings this week leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. They are Campbell Soup

, H.J. Heinz

, Hormel Foods

and Tyson Foods

, and analysts surveyed by Thomson/First Call expect to see at least a little year-over-year earnings and revenue growth from all four of them.

Analysts on average predict that this Camden, New Jersey-based maker of soups, juices and snacks will report Tuesday morning that revenue rose about 9.5 percent year-over-year to $2.37 billion for the fiscal first quarter. And per-share earnings are expected to come to $0.85 for the quarter, up from $0.82 per share in same quarter of last year. The consensus EPS estimate has been steady over the past 60 days. But Campbell exceeded EPS expectations in the past four quarters; the positive surprise in the previous quarter was almost eight percent. Campbell's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is less than the industry average, and the return on equity is more than 77 percent. Its dividend yield is about 3.2 percent. Shares are trading near the 52-week high. Over the past six months, the stock has outperformed competitors Heinz and General Mills

.

The consensus forecast calls for this maker of condiments, frozen foods, prepackaged meals and other food products to post earnings of $0.83 per share on revenues of $2.89 billion for the fiscal second quarter. That compares with $0.78 per share and $2.85 billion in the year-ago period. The analysts' consensus EPS estimate has remained steady over the past 60 days. But the Pittsburgh-based company has offered positive surprises for EPS in the past four quarters; the beat in the previous quarter was by more than seven percent. Heinz reports Tuesday morning. The P/E ratio is higher than the industry average, but so is the operating margin. The return on equity is about 34 percent. And the dividend yield is about 3.6 percent. Shares are trading near the 52-week high, but the stock has narrowly underperformed competitors Campbell and ConAgra Foods

over the past six months.

Analysts are looking for EPS that are about 14 percent higher year-over-year to $0.50. Individual earnings estimates only range from $0.45 to $0.53 per share. Fiscal fourth-quarter revenue is also expected to have grown, by more than six percent to $2.23 billion. But this Minnesota-based maker meat and other food products has not fallen short of analysts' earnings expectations for more than 10 quarters. EPS were in-line with consensus estimates in the previous quarter. Heinz also reports Tuesday morning. The P/E ratio is in-line with the industry average, the long-term EPS growth forecast is about 10 percent and the return on equity is more than 17 percent. The dividend yield is about two percent. Shares reached a multi-year high on Friday. Over the past six months, the stock has outperformed Tyson, but its performance has been in line with the S&P 500.

Fiscal fourth-quarter earnings are expected to come to $0.44 per share while revenues total $8.49 billion, when Tyson reports Monday morning. That would be up from $0.26 per share and $8.40 billion in the equivalent period of last year. The consensus estimate has risen in the past 60 days from $0.42 per share. But this Arkansas-based producer of meat and other food products fell short of expectations in three of the past six periods. The earnings miss in the previous quarter was by more than seven percent. Tyson has the lowest P/E ratio of the four companies featured here. But its long-term EPS growth forecast is only about seven percent, and it has a dividend yield of about one percent. Shares have not rebounded from a sell-off in July related to last summer's drought, and the stock has underperformed competitors Hormel and Smithfield Foods

over the past six months.