Packaged Foods & Meats

KeyBanc Capital Markets downgraded Flower Foods (NYSE: FLO) to Hold from Buy in a research report published today. In the report, KeyBanc Capital Markets states, "We were expecting higher wheat costs to force bread producers to reduce the high levels of promotional activity in the category, which...

Deutsche Bank has raised the price target on Dean Foods Company (NYSE: DF) from $9 to $10 and maintains its Hold rating.

Analysts at KeyBanc downgrade Flowers Foods Inc (NYSE: FLO) from “buy” to “hold.” FLO shares gained 1.23% to close at $24.63 yesterday. More Analyst Ratings here

US stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings reports from many companies. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 49 points to 12,158.00 and S&P 500 futures dropped 7.90 points at 1,311.30. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 index dipped 21.75 points to 2,340.50...

Kraft Foods Inc (NYSE: KFT) is expected to post its earnings at $0.46 per share on revenue of $13.47 billion in fourth quarter. Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) is expected to post a Q4 loss of $0.30 per share on revenue of $8.16 billion. PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) is projected to report its Q4 EPS at $1.04 on...

Below are the top mid-cap meat product stocks on the NYSE and the NASDAQ in terms of operating margin. The trailing-twelve-month operating margin at Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) is 8.91%. HRL's ROE for the same period is 17.65%. The trailing-twelve-month operating margin at Tyson Foods Inc...

Some of the stocks that may grab investor focus today are: Wall Street expects PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) to report its Q4 EPS at $1.04 on revenue of $17.64 billion. PEP shares dropped 0.11% to $64.35 in after-hours trading. Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO) reported its FQ2 net income at $1.52 billion, or...

A report released today by J.P. Morgan gives analysts' expectations for Kraft Food's (NYSE: KFT) 4Q10 results, which will be reported tomorrow. EPS is estimated at $0.50 (up 10% from one year ago) versus the consensus of $0.46. According to the report, JPM analysts estimate organic growth for...

Shares of Sara Lee Corporation (NYSE: SLE) are lower on the session by 0.99%, currently trading at $16.98. The stock had been moving largely higher over the past six months, but recently came under selling pressure. It is currently consolidating around the 50-day moving average. Options traders...

Here is a quick peek at stocks that have abnormally high daily put/call ratios today relative to their average…. 1. Cemex SaB (NYSE: CX) 4,684 puts, 110 calls 2. Gildan Activewear (NYSE: GIL) 3,761 puts, 133 calls 3. CIT Group (NYSE: CIT) 3,333 puts, 315 calls 4. Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE) 19,841...

Morgan Stanley is retaining its Equal-weight rating and $14.50 PT on shares of Sara Lee Corporation (NYSE: SLE). Sara Lee Corporation currently trades at $16.99.

BB&T Capital is out with its report today on Ralcorp Holdings (NYSE: RAH), reiterating Buy. In a note to clients, BB&T Capital writes, "EPS were $1.26 (ex mark-to-market gain and small cost items), a high-quality beat relative to our $1.18 projection and the consensus of $1.24. Further,...

BB&T Capital is out with its report today on Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO), maintaining Buy. In a note to clients, BB&T Capital writes, "FLO reported Q4'10 EPS of $0.34 compared to our $0.40 estimate and consensus of $0.39. The entire miss, relative to our estimate, was due to lower-than-...

Deutsche Bank maintains its Buy Rating on Sara Lee (NYSE: SLE) after its fiscal Q2 earnings report. In the report, Deutsche Bank states, “operating EPS of $0.24 was $0.03 below our est. and $0.01 below consensus. Sales were down 0.4% although we view the balance between volume (-5.8%) and price/...

Shares of Hain Celestial (NASDAQ: HAIN) have jumped 3.74% during Tuesday's trading session after analysts at Argus Research raised their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $33.00. The firm has a Buy rating on the stock. In the last 52-weeks, HAIN shares are up more than 100%. Legendary...