Investopedia: ConAgra Chooses To Move On

There is little doubt that ConAgra (NYSE:CAG) needs to change quite a few things about how it operates - the company has long been a mediocre collection of me-too brands in the packaged food space. Nevertheless, management deserves credit for walking away from a Ralcorp (NYSE:RAH) deal that was likely to get too expensive. What remains to be seen now is whether management can find new value-additive strategies to improve the business or whether less imaginative steps like debt reduction and share buybacks will be the order the day.

First Quarter Financials Still Problematic  
ConAgra reported sales growth nearly 10% to open this fiscal year, but overall performance was still not so great. Consumer sales were up more than 4% on a reported basis and the company reported that volumes were flat despite ongoing price increases. That's a solid improvement for ConAgra; the bear thesis on the stock has been that its lack of brand strength puts it in a more vulnerable position vis-à-vis Kraft (NYSE:KFT), Heinz (NYSE:HNZ), General Mills (NYSE:GIS) and the like when it comes to pushing price increases.

Read the full piece at Investopedia:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/ConAgra-Chooses-To-Move-On-CAG-RAH-KFT-HNZ-GIS-THS-DMND0922.aspx