Source: MEATINGPLACE, 10/13/14


A Wall Street analyst cites an improved earnings outlook for Tyson Foods’ pork segment in boosting his 2015 profit forecast for the company.

Better results for Tyson’s newly acquired Hillshire Brands business will also support overall profit next year, predicted BB&T analyst Brett Hundley.

“Tyson is indeed a diversified protein company and it has smoothed earnings volatility out in recent years; it should get credit for that,” Hundley wrote in a research report to clients.

The Hillshire acquisition adds a steady income stream heightened by on-trend consumer products, he said.

The analyst raised his 2015 earnings target by five cents to $3.47 a share.

He left his fourth-quarter 2014 profit target for the company at 73 cents a share, saying pork came in weaker than expected, as did beef, balanced by surprising counter-seasonal strength in the chicken segment.

In beef, packer margins were stronger than anticipated in the fourth quarter, but that increase will be offset by reduced volumes, Hundley said.

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