A leader in natural food and personal care product categories with an extensive portfolio of well-known brands and strong fundamentals, The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (HAIN) hit a new 52-week high of $118.66 on Dec 26, 2014. Year-to-date, this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock has surged 32% and looks promising. The long-term earnings per share growth rate stands at a healthy 14.6%.
Hain Celestial constantly endeavors to expand its footprint in organic and natural products through strategic opportunities and thereby "Change the Way the World Eats." Its latest attempt is the acquisition of Tilda Limited, a renowned name in Basmati rice and Rudi's Organic Bakery, one of the leading organic and gluten-free companies. Recently, it fully acquired Hain Pure Protein Corporation.
Earlier, the company had acquired leading packaged grocery brands – Hartley's, Gale's, Robertson's, Frank Cooper's and Sun-Pat – from Premier Foods plc. The company also acquired Ella's Kitchen Group Limited that offers organic baby food products under approximately 80 brands and in easy-to-carry pouches.
Hain Celestial's strategic investments, coupled with continued efforts to contain costs, increase productivity, and enhance cash flows and margins, enabled it to deliver healthy results. The company, which competes with Boulder Brands, Inc. (BDBD), expects to sustain its momentum going forward. This is because it remains well positioned to capitalize on the growing global demand for organic products through acquisitions, which have been crucial in building market share.
If we look at the company’s earnings surprise history over the last 13 quarters, Hain Celestial has topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by an average of 3.2%, including an earnings surprise of 3% in first-quarter fiscal 2015. In the last concluded quarter (on a pre-stock split basis), the company posted earnings of 68 cents a share that beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a couple of cents and surged 31% year over year. Strong top-line growth, integration of acquired businesses and focus on high-margin brands led to bottom-line growth. Net sales increased 32.2% year over year during the quarter.
Going forward, we believe that the company will remain focused on increased productivity and efficient pricing. Moreover, Hain Celestial has undertaken a number of initiatives to improve its performance and position itself on the growth trajectory.
Apart from Hain Celestial, Target Corp. (TGT) and L Brands, Inc. (LB) also hit 52-week highs of $75.37 and $86.08, respectively, on Friday.
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