Based on the aggregated intelligence of 115,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, packaged-food giant Kraft Foods
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Kraft's business, and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Kraft facts
Headquarters (Founded) |
Northfield, Illinois (2000 under its present incarnation) |
Market Cap |
$48.98 billion |
Industry |
Packaged Foods and Meats |
TTM Revenue |
$41 billion |
Management |
CEO Dr. Irene Rosenfeld CFO Timothy McLevish |
Return on Equity (average last three years) |
9.7% |
Major Competitors |
Unilever
General Mills |
CAPS members bullish on KFT also bullish on |
Altria Group
General Electric |
CAPS members bearish on KFT also bearish on |
Research In Motion
General Motors |
Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.
Over on CAPS, fully 336 of 368 All-Star members who have rated Kraft -- some 91% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These All-Star bulls include my fellow Fool Andy Cross (a.k.a. TMFOpie) and Gtrinvestor, both of whom are ranked in the top 3% of our community.
In late March, TMFOpie noted that Kraft is "going through a reorg that will unlock a lot of brand value, and I expect management to continue using its prodigious cash flow to buy back stock, pay down debt (carefully) and pay its dividend. Long-term, cheap play."
An earlier pitch from Gtrinvestor in February follows that bullish logic, highlighting a few of the stock's cheap-ish metrics (which remain relatively unchanged):
Defensive stock that is the same price as it was 2 years ago (and 5 years ago for that matter). Clearly management needs to make some improvements here, but the stock only has a forward P/E of 14, which is not tremendously high for a defensive food company like Kraft. They also pay a nice 3.7% dividend, which ain't too shabby.
And to top it all off, Buffett just bought a huge chunk of this company, so you're hitching your train to a pretty decent investor, as well.
What do you think about Kraft, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 115,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.