OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — ConAgra, the maker of Chef Boyardee, Hebrew National hot dogs and other packaged foods, topped Wall Street expectations for the third quarter, sending its shares higher in midday trading Thursday.
The company earned $204.6 million, or 46 cents per share for its fiscal third quarter ended Feb. 28. That compares with loss of $954.1 million, or $2.21 per share, a year earlier when its results were weighed down by hefty impairment charge.
Removing one-time gains and costs, earnings came to 68 cents per share, which was a dime better than Wall Street had expected, according to a survey of industry analysts by Zacks Investment Research forecast.
Revenue for the Omaha, Nebraska, company was $2.92 billion, also topping expectations. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.88 billion.
Sales for the commercial foods unit climbed 6 percent in the quarter, while sales for the consumer foods segment dipped 2 percent.
ConAgra received more than $2.6 billion during the quarter for selling off its unit that makes store-brand products. It used most of that cash to pay down $2.15 billion in debt.
ConAgra anticipates full-year adjusted earnings in the range of $2.05 to $2.07 per share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet predict $2.25 per share.
The company is also preparing to spin off its Lamb Weston frozen potato business, eliminating 1,500 office jobs and moving its headquarters to Chicago.
Once those changes are complete, ConAgra will focus on its consumer brands.
The company also announced that it will pay a dividend of 25 cents per share on June 1 to shareholders of record on April 29.
Shares rose 64 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $46.07 in midday trading Thursday.