Best US Stocks To Own For 2015

Best US Stocks To Own For 2015: SuperValu Inc.(SVU)

SUPERVALU INC., together with its subsidiaries, operates retail food stores in the United States. Its stores offer grocery, general merchandise, health and beauty care, pharmacy, and fuel products. The company operates stores under the Acme, Albertsons, Cub Foods, Farm Fresh, Hornbacher?s, Jewel-Osco, Lucky, Shaw?s, Shop ?n Save, Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, and Star Market banners, as well as in-store pharmacies under the Osco and Sav-on banners. It operates approximately 2,394 traditional and hard-discount retail food stores, including 899 licensed Save-A-Lot stores. The company also offers supply chain services, which include wholesale distribution of products to independent retailers, including single and multiple grocery store independent operators, regional and national chains, mass merchants, and the military customers, as well as provides logistics support services. SUPERVALU was founded in 1871 and is based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Suravi Thacker]

  However, grocer Supervalu (SVU) made significant efforts to combat competition and stage a comeback. Its recently reported fourth quarter results surprised the investors as it beat analysts' expectations.

• [By Vanina Egea] of 700 to 800 small format stores annually adds to an increasing number of dollar stores subscribing to loss-leader strategies. In this context, the firm undertook a fair price plus promotion strategy in fiscal 2013. This initiative has lowered prices to a competitive position at the expense of margins, in the hope for market share gains in the long term.

  Cost Cuts

  Apart from underperforming stores sellout, Supervalu has undertaken additional cost reduction initiatives which are expected to lower administrative expenses by $250 million through fiscal 2014. The reduction of its store count, I turn, i! s expected to generate $80 million to $90 million in savings in the next three years.

  Moving Forward

  In the third quarter of fiscal 2013, the firm reported adjusted earnings of $0.13, a significant improvement compared to the negative $0.07 delivered the year before. Revenues, however, fell by $1.05 in relation to the prior year, due to negative comps in the retail segment, which have been declining for four consecutive years.

  Further, the firm does not have any share buyback plans for fiscal 2014 and will not pay dividends to shareholders until March 2018.

  Supervalu showcases a negative return on capital of -9.24% compared to the industry average of 20.02%. And its three-year average revenue growth delivered a dismal -25.1% compared to its peers' median of 1.0%.

  Investment guru John Keeley (Trades, Portfolio) recently sold out his holding in the company, backing my feeling that despite the company's efforts, a good position in a highly competitive market will be hard to achieve.

  Disclosure: Vanina Egea holds no position in any stocks mentioned.

  About the author:Vanina EgeaA fundamental analyst at Lone Tree Analytics

  Visit Vanina Egea's Website

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  Rating: 5.0/5 (2 votes)

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• [By Bloomberg]

  Matthew Staver/Bloomberg via Getty Images Cerberus Capital Management's $9 billion deal to merge Safeway (SWY) with Albertsons is a bet that a larger supermarket chain can better fend off an attack on the grocery business by big-box stores and online retailers. Safeway, the No. 2 grocery-store operator in the U.S., agreed Thursday to be acquired by Cerberus's Albertsons for about $40 a share. The deal will unite two chains with locations across the country -- especially in the West -- and narrow Kroger's (KR) lead as the nation's top supermarket company. Cerberus, a private-equity firm that has spent years i! nvesting ! in the supermarket industry, will use the new company's heft to combat a growing array of threats. Big-box retailers such as Walmart Stores (WMT) and warehouse clubs are increasingly targeting grocery customers, using their size and breadth of products to attract shoppers. Online food sellers and delivery services, including Amazon.com (AMZN), also have made neighborhood supermarkets less essential than before. "This merger will improve our competitive position," Safeway Chief Executive Officer Robert Edwards, who will be in charge of the combined company, said Thursday on a conference call. "Our customers will benefit from significant cost saving synergies and a stronger management team." Safeway shares fell as much as 6.3 percent to $37 in extended trading, reflecting concerns the deal may not close at the current price. The shares had increased 21 percent this year through the close of regular trading Thursday, outpacing the 1.6 percent gain of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Blackhawk Network As part of the agreement, investors will get $32.50 a share in cash, plus stock in Safeway's gift-card unit Blackhawk Network Holdings (HAWK), according to a statement Thursday. Safeway, based in Pleasanton, Calif., had said last month that it was in talks about a sale of the company. Assuming a diluted share count of about 235 million shares,

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