For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 6, 2009 – Zacks.com releases the latest Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks featured in this week’s analysis include B.P. Prudhoe Bay (BPT), Sabine Royalty Trust (SBR), Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Hershey (HSY) and Del Monte (DLM).

Zacks Industry Rank Analysis is written by Dirk Van Dijk, CFA, Chief Equity Strategist for Zacks.com.   This week: Out-of-Step Industries

Sometimes the best investments come from a small group that seems to be bucking the trend of the much larger group that they are a part of. That appears to be the case for the Oil Royalty Trust group. There are eight names in this group, all of which sport Zacks #2 rankings. That puts them in a tie for 4th place among all industries tracked. Meanwhile, the Energy sector is well down the list overall sector rank list.

With royalty trusts, you get high dividends

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Del Monte Foods, Co. (DLM) continues to see upward revisions following another solid quarter.

Company Description < ?DART(15);?>

Del Monte Foods manufactures and distributes premium quality, nutritious food products under Del Monte, Contadina and other brand names. The company is the largest producer and distributor of canned vegetables and fruit in the United States.

Del Monte sells its products primarily through national grocery chains and independent grocery stores in addition to warehouse club stores and mass merchandisers.

Estiamtes Rising

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for full-year fiscal 2010 is not 95 cents, up from 79 cents 3 months ago. Next year's estimates are averaging $1.01, up from 88 cents in the same time frame.

These levels would yield year-over-year growth rates of 28% and 6%, respectively.

Valuations

Shares remain a solid value as well. One share will run you about 10 times earnings. Del Monte is the top rated canned food

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Del Monte's (DLM) long-term objectives are to achieve earnings growth in the range of 7% to 9% and topline growth in the range of 3% to 5%. However, the guidance for both earnings and revenues growth for fiscal 2010, exceed the long-term range, and are now expected to increase by approximately 15% and 4% to 6%, respectively.

Price increases implemented across the product portfolio helped Del Monte post strong profits during the first quarter of fiscal 2010 compared to a net loss in the comparable prior-year period. Del Monte has been able to boost sales through continued emphasis on product and packaging innovation.

We therefore upgrade the shares of Del Monte to Outperform.Zacks Investment Research

Del Monte (DLM) increased its quarterly dividend by 25% to $0.05 from $0.04 per share. The dividend is payable on August 6, 2009 to shareholders on record as of the close on July 23, 2009. The increase in dividend reflects Del Monte’s confidence in its ability to execute the Accelerated Growth Plan to deliver long-term sustainable earnings growth and cash flow.

The company generated strong cash flow in fiscal 2009 (an increase of 25% to $287 million) both from its operations and from the divestiture of Starkist seafood, allowing Del Monte to reduce its leverage to the low end of the target. This further resulted in increased financial flexibility and the opportunity to return more value to its shareholders.

Del Monte has a large stable of brand names, with 66% of the total sales being generated by brands that hold the number one market position. New products and innovative packaging have

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Campbell Soup Company (CPB) will further build the Chunky Soups brand with a comprehensive series of enhancements. The soups are expected to feature "better for you" credentials in 24 varieties made with lean meat and 30 items containing a full serving of vegetables.

Further, in the health and wellness category, the company’s iconic Tomato soup will have a significant reduction in sodium by 32% to 480 mg per serving, continuing the same taste. Also, management intends to reposition Healthy Request soups in the heart health space by further reducing the sodium levels to 410 mg per serving and featuring the American Heart Association certification on a redesigned label. Both products are expected to roll out in September.

In fiscal 2010, management expects to launch several new products such as 25 Campbell’s Healthy Request soups with sodium levels reduced by another 15%, and six Campbell’s V8 soups, also with reduced sodium levels.

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 10, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Dean Foods (DF), Hain Celestial (HAIN), United Natural Foods (UNFI), Del Monte (DLM) and Physicians Form Face (FACE).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Organic Products in Demand

On account of mounting competition from alternative channels and evolving consumer needs towards a healthier life, the natural and organic sector is gaining importance. The natural products sector (which includes organic foods, nutritional and herbal supplements, cosmetics and medicines, among other categories) generated sales

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On account of mounting competition from alternative channels and evolving consumer needs towards a healthier life, the natural and organic sector is gaining importance. The natural products sector (which includes organic foods, nutritional and herbal supplements, cosmetics and medicines, among other categories) generated sales of over $68 billion in 2008. Over the last five years, the natural products industry grew 8% versus 2% for the overall grocery industry. Most recently in 2008, the natural products industry grew 7.4% versus a 2% decline for the grocery industry.

Food companies like Dean Foods (DF), Hain Celestial (HAIN), United Natural Foods (UNFI) and Del Monte (DLM) are market leaders in the natural products sector, and the competition is primarily based on brand recognition, price, taste preference and quality. Acquisitions have been a key part of these companies strategy to build their market share. Acquisitions have not only expanded their geographical

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 5, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Procter & Gamble (PG), Del Monte (DLM), Winnebago (WGO), Harley Davidson (HOG) and Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=4579.

Here are highlights from Thursday's Analyst Blog:

Q1 More Productive

The service sector far outperformed manufacturing since manufacturing productivity was down 2.7% in the quarter. Within manufacturing, there was a serious divergence between durable goods, where productivity plunged 10.4%, and non-durable manufacturing, where it rose 1.9%. Manufacturing productivity is always more volatile

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Productivity is the ultimate determinate of our standard of living. If real GDP rises, but does so at less than the rate of population growth, then per capita GDP will fall. In the short term, it can be affected by changes in the proportion of people working, but over the long term increasing output per hour worked is the only way to make a society more wealthy.Thus the news that in the first quarter grew at 1.6%, rather than the 0.8% originally estimated, is very welcome news. The consensus expectation was that it would be revised up, but only to 1.2%. Both output and hours worked were down in the quarter, but hours worked fell more than output, leading to better productivity.It appears that within the numbers though there were some serious divergences, with productivity up at 1.8% for the whole business sector, but up ...

Del Monte Foods, Co. (...