3 Stocks Set to Soar: ReneSola Ltd. (ADR) (SOL)

Hillshire Farms
Calved off from Sara Lee last year as the consumer products company split into the Hillshire Farms meats business and the D.E. Master Blenders beverage company, analysts looked for an “M&A event” to be the catalyst for growth because there didn’t seem to be another way for Hillshire to grow on its own. But hot dogs and sausages are proving resilient, and shares of the meat processor are up by more than a third from the low point they hit last summer as commodity costs eased, allowing it to easily beat Wall Street’s projections and raise full-year guidance.

Management admits commodity prices dominate its performance, but greater investments in marketing, advertising, and promotions are also generating positive consumer responses above expectations, so it plans on putting even more of its resources into its eponymous “power brand” and that of Jimmy Dean.

Having now shed its Australian business, the meat products company will concentrate on improving its North American operations further. Like its Ball Park brand hot dog, we just might see its profits “plump when you cook ’em!”

Sauer-Danfoss
Shares of pump and valve maker Sauer-Danfoss soared at the end of November after receiving from Danfoss A/S an all-cash offer of $49 a share for the remaining 24% stake it doesn’t already own. The bid for the company represented a 24% premium to what the shares were trading at beforehand, but as they continue to trade above that level — most recently at $55 a share — it suggests investors think there may be a better offer still in the works.

And with good reason, as it’s not the first time Danfoss has tried to buy the company. In 2009, Danfoss attempted to acquire the valve maker with a low-ball offer of $10 a share, which was rightly deemed insufficient. While the pot was sweetened to $13.25, and then again to $14 a share, investors still saw it as undervaluing the company and rejected the bids, so Danfoss finally gave up and walked away.

Now that it’s back with a much higher offer, the board hasn’t been so quick to accept this time around, but let me know in the comments box below if you think Danfoss is still trying to buy the company on the cheap.

The article 3 Stocks Set to Soar originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Rich Duprey.

Fool contributor Rich Duprey has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

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