Analysts: This food company you've probably never heard of will outperform the rest of the industry

Hayley Peterson
0
Horizon milk
Horizon milk

(WhiteWave Foods)

Morgan Stanley has identified a list of 30 companies that will outperform their industries over at least the next three years.

The list includes well-known companies like Amazon, Apple, Dollar General, and Panera.

It also includes one company whose name isn't widely known, but whose products are sold in grocery stores across America: WhiteWave Foods.

WhiteWave Foods owns several plant-based and organic food brands such as Silk nut milks; Vega, which includes powdered protein shakes, supplements, and snack bars; Horizon organic milk; Wallaby organic yogurt; Earthbound Farm organic packaged salads; International Delight coffee creamer; and Land O'Lakes milk and cream.

Analysts said they expect WhiteWave's revenue to increase by an average of 9% year-over-year through 2019, and earnings per share to grow by about 16% year-over-year over the same time period.

International delight
International delight

(WhiteWave Foods)

"WhiteWave offers best-in-class mid-term organic growth... supported by its concentrated portfolio of brands in high-growth food categories (plant-based beverages,coffee creamers, organic dairy)," analysts wrote. "Recent top-line growth has reached double digits on sustained category trends and strength of successful innovation."

Analysts said the company has plenty of room for growth. They expect WhiteWave to expand its assortment by venturing into new food categories, such as soy yogurt, and offering new low-calorie products as well as additional flavors for existing items.

WhiteWave recorded sales of $3.9 billion in 2015, a 13% increase over the previous year. The company's stock has remained flat so far this year.

To create the top-30 list, Morgan Stanley asked each of its US analysts to identify the highest-quality companies in their sector.

The main criterion for narrowing it down the the top 30 was sustainability of competitive advantage, business model, pricing power, cost efficiency, and growth, analysts said.

Here's the full list:

  • Accenture

  • Alphabet

  • Amazon.com

  • Apple

  • Blackstone Group

  • Comcast

  • Constellation Brands

  • CVS Health

  • Danaher

  • Dollar General

  • Estee Lauder

  • Facebook

  • First Republic Bank

  • HCA

  • IBM

  • J.P.Morgan Chase

  • L Brands

  • Mettler-Toledo

  • NextEra Energy

  • Nike

  • Panera Bread

  • Philip Morris International

  • Public Storage

  • Ross Stores

  • SBA Communications

  • ServiceMaster

  • T-Mobile

  • Visa

  • WhiteWave Foods

  • Zayo Group Holdings

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