POT - Potash Corp - return on equity of 22% exceeds the industry’s average of 14%

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Inc. (POT) recently declared a quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share. POT’s dividend yield stands at 0.4%, topping the industry’s average of 0.1%. Potash’s return on equity of 22% exceeds the industry’s average of 14%. In late July, Potash announced second-quarter results, delivering the best quarterly earnings in the history of the company. Current Wall Street 2007 earnings forecasts of $3.27 per share were upped by two cents over the past seven trading days. POT is scheduled to report third-quarter results on October 25, 2007. Full Analysis Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Inc. is the world's largest fertilizer enterprise producing the three primary plant nutrients and a leading supplier to three distinct market categories: agriculture, with the largest capacity in the world in potash, third largest in phosphate and fourth largest in nitrogen; animal nutrition, with the world's largest capacity in phosphate feed ingredients; and industrial chemicals, as the largest global producer of industrial nitrogen products and the world's largest capacity for production of purified industrial phosphoric acid. The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share. The dividend is payable on November 12, 2007 to shareholders of record on October 22, 2007. POT’s dividend yield stands at 0.4%, topping the industry’s average of 0.1%. Potash’s return on equity of 22% exceeds the industry’s average of 14%. In late July, POT reported second-quarter profits of 88 cents per share. The result beat the consensus estimate by three cents and soared past earnings in the prior-year period by 55.2%. It represented the best quarterly earnings in the history of the company. Revenues climbed to $1.35 billion from $928.7 million in the second quarter of 2006. President and CEO Bill Doyle stated, "The fundamentals that drive our business have aligned for the foreseeable future, and we are well positioned to capitalize on the growing global need for all three primary nutrients. Our world-class assets and focused long-term strategies have positioned us for strong performance in these market conditions as we demonstrated again this quarter." In addition to posting solid results for the second quarter, POT raised its earnings forecast for the full year. The company now expects profits between $3.00 and $3.25 per share. Its prior outlook called for earnings per share between $2.50 and $2.83. Current Wall Street 2007 forecasts of $3.27 per share were upped by two cents over the past seven trading days. Three months ago, analysts were projecting $3.05. Earnings per share are projected to grow 10% over the next 3-5 years. The company is scheduled to report third-quarter results on October 25, 2007. POT is a Zacks #2 Rank (Buy) stock. Zacks #2 Rank stocks have generated an average annual return of 21.7% since 1988. Because the Zacks Rank has a market cap bias, Growth & Income investors may find a greater number of large-cap stocks by considering both Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) and Zacks #2 Rank (Buy) stocks in their selection criteria. Content Courtesy: Zacks Investment Research #1 Ranked Stocks Highlight Archive To truly take advantage of the Zacks Rank, you need to first understand how it works. That is why we created the free special report: Zacks Rank Guide: Harnessing the Power of Earnings Estimate Revisions. | Blog Home| VitalStocks Home