DOLE PROFITS MAKE STOCK GO BANANAS.Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer Shares of Dole Food Co. hit an all-time high Friday in the wake of topping Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter earnings. The issue gained 1-5/8 to 50-3/8, a 3.3 percent increase. The previous high had come on Dec. 3 when the stock closed at 49-5/8. ``Dole reported an excellent, excellent quarter,'' said Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., or simply Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is one of the world's largest global investment banks. Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869, and is headquartered in the Lower Manhattan area of New York City at 85 Broad Street. analyst Nomi Ghez, who upgraded the stock to ``recommended'' from ``accumulate.'' ``Time and time again, the company faces problems and still reports very good earnings.'' In this case, Dole overcame weak prices for bananas ba·nan·as adj. Slang Crazy: "That's the horrible thing when you're bananas in Asian and some developing European markets to post an earnings increase of 72 percent to $23.2 million, or 38 cents a diluted di·lute tr.v. di·lut·ed, di·lut·ing, di·lutes 1. To make thinner or less concentrated by adding a liquid such as water. 2. To lessen the force, strength, purity, or brilliance of, especially by admixture. share, from $13.5 million in the 1996 quarter, excluding a $50 million charge for cutting back its dried fruit and nut Fruit and Nut some times known as Cadbury Fruit And Nut Bars are bars of milk chocolate with raisins and almonds which are made by Cadbury and based on their solid Dairy Milk bar, but containing nuts and raisins. business in California. The profits were a penny above the consensus estimate and sales were up 22 percent to $1.09 billion. A spokesman said the results stemmed from improved performance in core businesses including fresh vegetables, processed pineapple pineapple, common name for one member of and for the Bromeliaceae, a family of chiefly epiphytic herbs and small shrubs native to the American tropics and subtropics. and bananas. Dole's 1997 earnings rose 23 percent to a record $160.2 million, or $2.65 a share, while sales rose 13 percent to $4.34 billion. During 1997, Dole cut its debt by $154 million to $737 million and its interest expense by 6 percent to $64.6 million. Wasserstein Perella analyst William McGuire William McGuire may refer to:
``Anything that tightens supply will benefit Dole,'' McGuire said. ``They can always switch to suppliers in Central America Central America, narrow, southernmost region (c.202,200 sq mi/523,698 sq km) of North America, linked to South America at Colombia. It separates the Caribbean from the Pacific. .'' McGuire has a six-month price target of $60 on Dole stock and added a nickel to his previous 1998 profit estimate of $3.05 a share. ``I think $3.10 is still very conservative,'' he added. Ghez has a 12-month target of $60 and a 1998 estimate of $3.15 a share. Dole, which operates its headquarters in four leased buildings, recently broke ground on a $50 million headquarters in Westlake Village and expects to occupy the facility in May 1999. |
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