World Grain - February 2017 - 72

FEATURE

NORTH AMERICAN
D

espite a selloff in food-sector shares late in 2016, the
Grain-Based Foods Share Index more than held its
own for the full year, outpacing major market indices.
Closing the year at 24233.55, up 14.2%, the index calculated
weekly by Milling & Baking News, a sister publication of
World Grain, moved higher for a remarkable eighth consecutive year.
The advance of 14.2% was far greater than the 4.3% gain
in 2015 but lagged 17.4% in 2014, 22.7% in 2013 and 16.2%
in 2012.
At 14.2%, the Grain-Based Foods Share Index outperformed each of the major U.S. stock market indices, including
the S&P 500, at 9.5%; the Dow Jones average of industrial
shares, at 13.4%, and the Nasdaq composite index, up 7.5%.
The index also did better than all but three of the S&P 500
sectors, topping consumer discretionary, up 6.9%; consumer
staples, up 2.6%; health care, down 1.1%; information technology, up 12%; telecommunications, up 12%; and materials,
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up 16.1%; and transportation, up 21.2%.
Among the 28 North American companies included in the
Grain-Based Foods Share Index, only four sustained share
price declines during the year and many easily bested the S&P
500 in 2015.
MGPI SHARES JUMP 93%
For a third consecutive year the perennially volatile MGP
Ingredients, Inc., Atchison, Kansas, U.S., posted the top share
price performance within the Grain-Based Foods Share Index.
MGP Ingredients shares leapt 93% in 2016, following a more
"modest" gain of 64% in 2015 and a 206% surge in 2014. At a
closing price of $49.98, MGPI shares have recovered 1,561%
from the recent low of $2.98 per share in July 2012. Since
management was replaced in 2013-14 after a bruising board
of directors' battle, MGPI shares have jumped 817%.
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72

by L. Joshua Sosland

Index for grain-based food
companies in 2016 up 14.2%, far
greater than the previous year
come rose 16% from the same period a year earlier. The company's price-to-earnings ratio stood at about 30.
Ranking second within the Grain-Based Foods Share Index
in 2016 was Seaboard Corp., Merriam, Kansas, U.S. The
share price gain of 36% followed a decline of 31% in 2015,
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1), net income per share on the common stock was up 209%
to $178.67. During the year the company announced plans to
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grades to existing facilities.
The third widest gain in 2016 was scored by Bridgford
Foods Corp., Anaheim, California, U.S., up 32%. In 2015,
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common stock were 57¢, up 14% from 50¢ during the same
period a year earlier.
The fourth widest share price gain in 2016 was posted by
Post Holdings, Inc., St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., also up 31%
for the year. It was the second consecutive year in which Post
was a standout in the index. The company's shares rose 47%
in 2015, the second strongest gains that year. In 2014, Post
shares were the second poorest in the index, down 15%.
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in the index, rising by 30% in 2016. The advance extends a
solid run for the Westchester, Illinois, U.S.-based ingredient
supplier, following gains of 13% in 2015 and 24% in 2014.
February 2017 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

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World Grain - February 2017

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