Hormel Foods Corporation

Hormel Foods Corporation (HRL), the manufacturer of food and meat products including SPAM, Hormel and Dinty Moore brands, recently raised its dividend for the 44th straight year. The company has been paying a dividend, without interruption, since it went public in 1928.

The annual dividend was raised 10.5% to 84 cents from 76 cents per share in 2009.

On Nov 24, Hormel also surprised on the fourth quarter Zacks Consensus Estimate by 13.24%. Earnings per share rose 54% to 77 cents from 50 cents in the year ago period. The Zacks Consensus called for 68 cents. For fiscal 2009, earnings per share climbed 22% to $2.53 from $2.08 per share.

Sales and volumes both declined, however. Sales fell 10% to $1.68 billion while volumes sank 3% compared to a year ago. The sales decline was due to lower commodity costs which was reflected in lower pricing in the pork and turkey segments as well as a continued weak consumer environment.

On the positive side, the refrigerated foods segment led the quarter as volumes rose 1%.

Outlook for Fiscal 2010

The company provided a 2010 outlook of earnings per share in the range of $2.63 to $2.73.

The analysts are still revising their estimates but the full year Zacks Consensus has already jumped 4 cents to $2.63, which is at the lower end of the company's guidance range. 3 out of 10 covering analysts raised estimates in the last week.

Value Fundamentals

Hormel is now a Zacks #2 Rank (buy) stock. It is trading with a forward P/E of 14.5. Its price-to-book ratio is 2.36. The company has a solid 1-year return on equity (ROE) of 14.73%.

Read the Apr 29 article.

Update to Previous Value Zacks Rank Buy Stocks

Avnet, Inc. (AVT) recently saw quarter over quarter growth as the global recession eased. The company is trading with a forward P/E of 13.2. Read the full article.

Jinpan International Limited (JST) is taking advantage of worldwide interest in wind energy as international sales rose 40% in the third quarter. The company is trading with a forward P/E of 11.67. Read the full article.

Jarden Corporation (JAH) has surprised on estimates four quarters in a row by an average of 12.57%. The company is trading with a forward P/E of 11. Read the full article.

Tracey Ryniec is the Value Stock Strategist for Zacks.com. She is also the Editor in charge of the market-beating Zacks Value Trader service.

Read the full analyst report on HRL

Read the full analyst report on AVT

Read the full analyst report on JAH

Read the full analyst report on JST