Mississippi's Sanderson Farms Profits Disappoint Wall St.

LAUREL, MS — Sanderson Farms Inc. missed its fourth-quarter forecasts as it reported Thursday fiscal earnings of $72.9 million. It said it had profit of $3.20 per share.

The results disappointed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $3.62 per share.

The poultry producer posted revenue of $919.9 million in the period, topping Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $919.1 million.

For the year, the company reported profit of $279.7 million, or $12.30 per share. Revenue was reported as $3.34 billion.

Sanderson Farms shares have climbed 78 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has increased 86 percent in the last 12 months.

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