Investopedia: Waiting For Hormel To Get Cheaper Isn't Getting Any Easier

Once in a while even the best-loved food and beverage companies will sell off on concerns about organic growth trends or margin worries. So far, though, it looks like Hormel (NYSE:HRL) is largely immune, as although margins came up a little light this quarter, the Street seems willing to look past one quarter and remain focused on the attractive, higher-margin business management is building.

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http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/082213/waiting-hormel-get-cheaper-isnt-getting-any-easier-hrl-krft-hsh-tsn.aspx

Investopedia: BRF SA Serves Up A Feast For Investors

For reasons completely unknown to me, Investopedia editors chose to change the company name to "BRF SA" instead of Brasil Foods... 

The argument I've made for some time with BRF S.A. (Nasdaq: BRFS) is that this company is on a long-term plan to transform itself from a commodity- and export-driven protein company into a global branded food company like Kraft (Nasdaq:KRFT) or Nestle (Nasdaq:NSRGY). With that, I not only expect significant growth, but significant margin and free cash flow expansion over the next decade. BRF S.A. is by no means cheap according to conventional metrics, but the shares are still slightly undervalued on a cash flow basis and offer investors good exposure to emerging market consumer spending growth.

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http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/073013/brf-sa-serves-feast-investors-brfs-tsn-hrl-krft-nsrgy.aspx

Investopedia: Smithfield Gets Its Deal, But From A Surprising Bidder

Investors had been agitating for Smithfield (NYSE:SFD) management to “do something” to increase the value of their shares, and their wishes were answered in spades on Wednesday. The largest pork producer in the U.S. announced that it had accepted a bid to be acquired by China's Shanghui International in an all-cash deal that awards a pretty hefty multiple to this protein producer.

The Deal To Be...
If the deal goes through as announced, Smithfield investors will receive $34 in cash for each share they own. That works out to a 31% premium relative to Tuesday's close and just barely less than the all-time high for the stock.

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http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/052913/smithfield-get-its-deal-surprising-bidder-sfd-tsn-yum-mcd-seb.aspx

Investopedia: Will Tyson Serve The Bulls Or Serve Up The Bulls?

It's really too bad that Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) doesn't offer a breaded or Buffalo-style crow, as I have to eat a plateful of it with this stock. I didn't like this stock back in the fall of 2012, and thought that the post-earnings reaction then was overdone. As it turns out, though, the stock had another 28% left to appreciate, making it a very solid performer in what has been a strong consumer sector overall.

At the risk of doubling down on a bad call, I'm still not very partial to this stock. Although I do believe that Tyson has the opportunity to grow its international and packaged foods businesses and generate meaningfully better margins, this quarter's margin under-performance highlights just how challenging it can be to deliver on a quarter-to-quarter basis. In the context of what increasingly looks like an overheated consumer sector, I'd be careful about piling into Tyson shares today.

Please read more here:
http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/050613/will-tyson-serve-bulls-or-serve-bulls-tsn-ppc-yum-mcd-brfs.aspx

Seeking Alpha: Brasil Foods Moving From Tyson Towards Nestle

Lack of ambition has never been a problem at Brasil Foods (BRFS). While over a third of the company's revenue currently comes from commodity meat exports to the Mideast, Africa, and Asia, Brasil Foods has made it abundantly clear that they don't see other Brazilian protein companies like Marfrig or JBS as their true long-term peers, nor American protein companies like Tyson (TSN) or Smithfield (SFD). No, Brasil Foods is playing for larger stakes - looking to become the developing world's answer to Nestle (NSRGY.PK), and they may just be ambitious enough to pull it off.

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Brasil Foods Moving From Tyson Towards Nestle

Seeking Alpha: Brasil Foods A Bipolar Brazil Play

There's an old joke that goes something like this - what is a long-term investor? A short-term investor that won't admit a mistake, take a loss, and move on. I don't happen to subscribe to that point of view, but I do admit that Brasil Foods (BRFS) is not the easiest stock to own as Wall Street wavers between breathless enthusiasm for emerging markets and rank skepticism about those same markets.

Brasil Foods absolutely has real challenges today, but the long-term potential for this Brazil-based global food company is enough to keep me interested in the shares.

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Brasil Foods A Bipolar Brazil Play

Seeking Alpha: Kraft Looks Like The Tastiest Morsel In Packaged Food

For reasons that don't make a lot of sense to me, investors continue to reward a host of under-performing food companies with pretty robust multiples. I understand the value of a good brand, and I don't fault investors for hanging on to Coca-Cola (KO) or PepsiCo (PEP) even though neither are cheap, but I wonder why so many investors are happy to pay premiums to hold companies experiencing uncontrollable cost inflation and increasing elasticity from consumers.

Please read the full piece here:
Kraft Looks Like The Tastiest Morsel In Packaged Food

Seeking Alpha: Brasil Foods - Little Expected, Even Less Delivered

Even good companies will try the patience of investors from time to time, and that's the story today on Brasil Foods (BRFS). Although nobody really thought major export markets like Japan, Russia, or the Mideast were going to turn around on a dime, they managed to get even worse than expected. The good news, though, is that Brasil Foods remains one of the strongest consumer plays in one of the largest emerging markets, not to mention one of the best export-leveraged food companies in the world.

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Brasil Foods: Little Expected, Even Less Delivered

Seeking Alpha: Brasil Foods - An Emerging Titan With Hefy Expectations

Being a titan always seems to come with strings attached - Atlas had to bear the weight of the world, Prometheus ended up chained to a rock, and Brasil Foods (BRFS) carries the burden of sky-high expectations. While it is indeed a good thing to be the second-largest food company in Brazil and one of the ten largest in the world, Brasil Foods' current valuation practically demands excellence if shareholders are going to see market-beating returns from this point.

Disappointing Q4 Results Highlight A Key Vulnerability
On the whole, Brasil Foods had a pretty mixed fourth quarter. Revenue did rise 11%, but higher production costs and salaries pulled EBTIDA down 4% compared to the prior year.


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Brasil Foods - An Emerging Titan With Hefty Expectations