H J Heinz in an old favorite

This morning I was screening on Barchart for S&P 500 stocks that continue to hit new highs even when the overall market is down.  H J Heinz (HNZ) has hit 13 new highs and is up 6.58% last month in the same period the Value Line Index was down 2.11%.  The list of products they sell looks like my grocery shopping list.  They have made major acquisitions in the Latin American markets and let's face it the Latin American diet is very tomato based just like ours, so they should do well there.  The company has made a major investment in IT to help streamline inventory control and delivery.  I'd like the stock on its price momentum alone.

H J Heinz (HNZ)  -- and its subsidiaries manufacture and market an extensive line of processed food products throughout the world. The company's principal products include ketchup, condiments and sauces, frozen food, pet food, soups, beans and pasta meals, tuna and other seafood products, infant food and other processed food products.  Product brand names include: Heinz ketchup, Classico pasta sauces, Ore-Ida frozen potatoes, SmartOnes meals, and Plasmon baby food.

Factors to Consider:

Technical Factors:

• 100% Barchart technical buy signal
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 13 new highs and up 6.58% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 79.72% and rising
• Trades around 54.55 with a 50 day moving average of 50.79

Fundamental Factors:

• Wall Street brokerage core holding for conservative investors
• Brokerage analysts have released 3 strong buy, 5 buy and 11 hold recommendations for their clients
• Sales are projected to increase by 1.80% this year and 7.10% next year
• Earnings are estimated to increase by 7.70% this year, 7.80% next year and 7.20% annually for the next 5 years
• Dividend rate of 3.90% is only 57% of earnings

General Investor Sentiment:

• As measured on Motley Fool over 1,102 readers have an opinion on this stock
• 767 CAPS members vote the stock will beat the market vs 46 who think it will lag
• The more experienced All Stars vote 279 to 10 for the same result

Summary:  For conservative investors looking for income and growth H J Heinz (HNZ) should be a sure bet to give a total return of 12.50% over the next 5 years.  Normally, I do not use the term "sure bet" but this company has an A+ financial strength with a score of 100 for both price stability and earning predictability.  This is one of those time when you should be able to have a little faith in the numbers.