Monday February 25, 2008
"Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM), the largest producer and marketer of shell eggs in the United States, is one of the few stocks that should weather a bear market.," says Dennis Slothower.
In his Stealth Stocks, the advisor explains, "In a bear market, people still need to eat, making Cal-Maines less subject to the wild swings of the business cycle." Here, he reviews his latest "stock of the month."
"In fiscal 2007, the company sold approximately 685 million dozen shell eggs, which represented about 15.5% of domestic shell egg consumption in the US.
"CALM’s primary business is the production, grading, packaging, marketing and distribution of shell eggs. The strength of the company’s position is evidenced by the fact that it has the largest market share in the grocery segment for shell eggs,and it sells shell eggs to amajority of the largest food retailers in the United States.
"The company also is one of the largest producers and marketers of value-added specialty shell eggs in the United States. Specialty shell eggs include reduced cholesterol,cage-free and organic eggs,and are a rapidly growing segment of the market.
"In fiscal 2007, specialty shell eggs represented approximately 15% of CALM’s shell egg dollar sales.Retail prices for specialty eggs are higher than those of standard shell eggs due to consumer willingness to pay for the increased benefits from those products.
"CALM markets its specialty shell eggs under two distinct brands: Egg-Land’s Best and Farmhouse. It also produces,markets and distributes private-label specialty shell eggs to several customers. Sales of specialty shell eggs accounted for approximately 8.7% of CALM’s total shell egg dozen volume in fiscal 2007.
"CALM is deeply discounted to its intrinsic value and is one of the few stocks that actually rose last month. This stock is cheap trading at a P/E of 8 while sporting a 31% percent growth rate.
"According to my numbers, this is a stock that should be selling in the $60 range over the next three to five years. It is currently trading in the low $30 range, so CALM has large upside potential."
