• Subscribe
  • Log In
  • Home
  • Daily Diary
  • Asset Class
    • U.S. Equity
    • Fixed Income
    • Global Equity
    • Commodities
    • Currencies
  • Sector
    • Basic Materials
    • Consumer Discretionary
    • Consumer Staples
    • Energy
    • Financial Services
    • Healthcare
    • Industrials
    • Real Estate
    • Technology
    • Telecom Services
    • Transportation
    • Utilities
  • Latest
    • Articles
    • Video
    • Columnist Conversations
    • Best Ideas
    • Stock of the Day
  • Street Notes
  • Authors
    • Doug Kass
    • Bruce Kamich
    • Jim Cramer
    • Jim "Rev Shark" DePorre
    • Helene Meisler
    • Jonathan Heller
    • - See All -
  • Options
  • RMPIA
  • Switch Product
    • Action Alerts PLUS
    • Quant Ratings
    • Real Money
    • Real Money Pro
    • Retirement
    • Stocks Under $10
    • TheStreet
    • Top Stocks
    • Trifecta Stocks
  1. Home
  2. / Investing
  3. / Consumer Staples

Cramer: 3 Companies Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands

General Mills, Best Buy, Toll Brothers: You don't like our stock? We do.
By JIM CRAMER
Aug 23, 2016 | 11:25 AM EDT
Stocks quotes in this article: GIS, TOL, BBY

Do I sense we have some frustrated managements talking today? I am referring to how fed up they are about how low their stocks are vs. where they should be, and they are doing something about it.

Tonight I have General Mills (GIS) on, and CEO Ken Powell has taken his share count down from 648 million in 2013 to 598 million now.

Toll Brothers (TOL) , not really known as an acquirer of its own stock, took its count down from 184 million to 173 million in the last year.

Best Buy's (BBY) been a consistent buy, with its share count going from 406 million in 2011 to 320 million now.

Now we often hear that managements buy back stock just to shrink the denominator to show better earnings growth. We also hear they buy back stock because they have nothing else good to do with the money. No growth prospects. Otherwise they would be investing in that growth.

But I think sometimes managements just think the market has their stocks wrong. That they aren't getting credit for what's good about what they are accomplishing and for their execution.

You can tell from the conference call that Best Buy sure thinks that way. They have reinvented the company so many times, from a record store to a cellphone store to a television store to an appliance store that's got a terrific home theater franchise. But have they gotten an ounce of credit for it?

Nope. At least not until this morning, when those who were betting against the stock and those who have hung on were rewarded with both a way-better-than-expected quarter and a good outlook that few expected, in part because of magnificent 8% appliance sales.

I am sure that Executive Chairman Bob Toll just got tired of looking at his stock and his namesake company went to town, buying back 2% of Toll's shares at $26.33. Nice buy, up four.

I am not saying he's gaming the market. I am saying Toll's stock has lagged some homebuilders' stocks that are simply not as good as Toll's. I think he and his team have had enough with the Street not getting what they have accomplished, which is building a top-notch national homebuilder that basically owns the high end wherever they go.

General Mills? What can I say about this company? It has growth areas galore. But it has cash flow like few other companies and it has been a serial acquirer of stock for ages, not to mention a terrific dividend payer.

Just listening to Powell and his team at a recent analyst day, I have to say that they, too, are just not getting credit for reinventing this company on the fly. If no one wants the stock, he'll take it.

All three companies have something to crow about. But only a few Wall Streeters seem to be listening, so they have taken matters into their own hands.

I like those hands. They are assuring good earnings and -- more important for our purposes -- great stocks!

Get an email alert each time I write an article for Real Money. Click the "+Follow" next to my byline to this article.

Action Alerts PLUS, which Cramer co-manages as a charitable trust, has no positions in the stocks mentioned.

TAGS: Investing | U.S. Equity | Consumer Staples | Basic Materials | Consumer Discretionary | Markets

More from Consumer Staples

Jim Cramer: How Will Stocks That Thrived Amid Covid Do Post-Pandemic? Who Knows

Jim Cramer
Feb 5, 2021 6:54 AM EST

The forces that benefited shares of companies such as Peloton Interactive and Clorox may not sustain them once the impact of the virus subsides.

Altria Stock Is Ready to Light Up

Bruce Kamich
Jan 27, 2021 9:31 AM EST

Earnings for the tobacco company are set for Thursday.

My Top Stock Pick for 2021

Ed Ponsi
Dec 31, 2020 8:30 AM EST

Even after a solid 2020, this company has laid the groundwork for a successful 2021.

With Dividend Investing En Vogue, Here Are 4 More Stocks to Consider

Chris Versace
Dec 22, 2020 10:00 AM EST

The consistent annual dividend increases by this quartet even during bad times make them good income-investing bets going forward.

2 Food Stocks Worth Digging Into for Dividend-Hungry Investors

Chris Versace
Dec 3, 2020 11:00 AM EST

Long histories of annual dividend increases make Hormel Foods and McCormick & Co. attractive income plays.

Real Money's message boards are strictly for the open exchange of investment ideas among registered users. Any discussions or subjects off that topic or that do not promote this goal will be removed at the discretion of the site's moderators. Abusive, insensitive or threatening comments will not be tolerated and will be deleted. Thank you for your cooperation. If you have questions, please contact us here.

Email

CANCEL
SUBMIT

Email sent

Thank you, your email to has been sent successfully.

DONE

Oops!

We're sorry. There was a problem trying to send your email to .
Please contact customer support to let us know.

DONE

Please Join or Log In to Email Our Authors.

Email Real Money's Wall Street Pros for further analysis and insight

Already a Subscriber? Login

Columnist Conversation

  • 11:38 AM EST GARY BERMAN

    The INDU and DIA

    FIBOCALL: The INDU index and the DIA The INDU ...
  • 10:44 AM EST JAMES "REV SHARK" DEPORRE

    This Weekend on Real Money

    "The Challenge of Short-Selling"
  • 08:40 AM EST PAUL PRICE

    Recent Pick SpartanNash (SPTN) Raised Its Quarterly Payout by 3.9%

  • See More

COLUMNIST TWEETS

  • A Twitter List by realmoney
About Privacy Terms of Use

© 1996-2021 TheStreet, Inc., 225 Liberty Street, 27th Floor, New York, NY 10281

Need Help? Contact Customer Service

Except as otherwise indicated, quotes are delayed. Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes for all exchanges. Market Data & Company fundamental data provided by FactSet. Earnings and ratings provided by Zacks. Mutual fund data provided by Valueline. ETF data provided by Lipper. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions Group.

TheStreet Ratings updates stock ratings daily. However, if no rating change occurs, the data on this page does not update. The data does update after 90 days if no rating change occurs within that time period.

FactSet calculates the Market Cap for the basic symbol to include common shares only. Year-to-date mutual fund returns are calculated on a monthly basis by Value Line and posted mid-month.

Compare Brokers

Please Join or Log In to manage and receive alerts.

Follow Real Money's Wall Street Pros to receive real-time investing alerts

Already a Subscriber? Login