ConAgra beats 1Q profit forecasts

ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG) on Thursday reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $186.2 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.

The Chicago-based company said it had net income of 42 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 61 cents per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 48 cents per share.

The maker of Chef Boyardee, Hebrew National hot dogs and other packaged foods posted revenue of $2.67 billion in the period, which fell short of Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.74 billion.

ConAgra shares have increased slightly more than 2 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen 6 percent. The stock has risen almost 7 percent in the last 12 months.

_____

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CAG at http://www.zacks.com/ap/CAG

_____

Keywords: ConAgra Foods, Earnings Report