ConAgra's New Recipe

3/28 - "Shares of ConAgra Foods (CAG) were up more than 6% on Mar. 27 after the Omaha food company announced the sale of its commodity trading operations, as well as better-than-expected revenues for its packaged foods business.

"ConAgra shares were trading in the range of $23.50 after disclosure of the sale to an affiliate of New York-based Ospraie Management , an investment management firm specializing in commodities, for about $2.1 billion. The price represents a premium of 12 to 13 times earnings, said Deutsche Bank Securities (DB) analyst Eric Katzman, who considers the sale "fairly valued."

"Wall Street is still skeptical that ConAgra can reinvent itself as a premier consumer goods marketer in the mold of PepsiCo, Kraft, General Mills, and Kellogg. Katzman, for one, has a hold on the stock. "They focused investor attention on the consumer business, they still have to execute," he says."