UPDATE: Credit Suisse Initiates Coverage On Diamond Foods
In a research note released Monday, Credit Suisse analyst Robert Moskow initiated coverage on Diamond Foods (NASDAQ: DMND) with an Outperform rating and a target price of $32.
Moskow stated that new management has fixed legal issues and accounting problems that it had incurred in the past. The analyst continued to state that now is a “particularly good time to buy the stock because the market punished it too severely for its 3Q results.”
The analyst said he expects a growth of nearly six percent in full year 2015, in addition to the eight percent growth in 2014. The gains are primarily due to distribution gains on Kettle, share gains by Pop Secret and the launch of Kettle popcorn.
Gross margins for snacks are also 55 percent, which is 10 percent higher than that of snacks. This will also position the company to perform better financially.
Furthermore, the analyst stated that there may be more upgrades to come and thinks that Diamond is an attractive asset for large-cap companies looking to expand in snacks.
Shares of Diamond Foods are down about one percent.
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