ConAgra Investors Cheer Private Brands Exit

The company did not give guidance at this time but expects to do so “at an investor event likely to be scheduled for the fall of 2015.” There are consensus estimates of $2.28 in EPS on $15.77 billion in revenue for fiscal 2016.

In terms of its segments the company reported:

• Consumer Foods had $1.86 billion in revenue.
• Commercial Foods had $1.23 billion in revenue.
• Private Brands had $1.02 billion in revenue.

Consumer Foods and Commercial Foods posted operating profit growth after adjusting, but Private Brands posted a decline in operating profit. ConAgra also noted in the report that it plans to exit the Private Brands operations.

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Sean Connolly, CEO of ConAgra, commented on the exit:

As I have intensely studied the situation in our Private Brands operations over the last few months, it has become clear that the time and energy the company is devoting to the Private Brands turnaround represent a suboptimal use of our resources. To prevent further distraction, we are pursuing the divestiture of our Private Brands operations. Because the outcome of our strategic review for the Private Brands operations will influence our long-term financial outlook, we will wait until this process is complete before sharing long-term financial commitments. We expect to offer operating details of our plans as well as long-term financial expectations at an investor event later this year.

For this quarter, dividends totaled $107 million, up from $105 million year over year, reflecting an increase in shares outstanding. ConAgra repurchased roughly 332,000 shares of common stock during the quarter for approximately $12 million.

The CEO also commented on earnings and the outlook for 2016:

With fiscal year 2015 now behind us, we are now pursuing a different plan to maximize value for our shareholders. Our new plan will center on a more aggressive approach to driving margin improvement through SG&A reductions, supply chain efficiencies and other projects. It also sharpens our focus on growing our Consumer Foods and Commercial Foods segments. We expect to continually refine our portfolio with prudent divestitures and acquisitions, and there will be a strong emphasis on deploying capital in ways that benefit shareholders.

At the end of the quarter, ConAgra had $183.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, compared to $141.3 million in the same period of the previous year.

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Shares of ConAgra closed Monday down 1.3% to $43.43. After the earnings were released, shares were up 3.2% at $44.81 in early trading indications Tuesday. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $41.33 and a 52-week trading range of $29.62 to $44.16.