Citigroup Maintains Buy Rating On HJ Heinz Following F1Q12 Beat

Citigroup has published a research report on HJ Heinz HNZ after the company reported sales growth that exceeded expectations for the quarter. In the report, Citigroup writes, "Heinz produced F1Q12 EPS of 78c versus consensus estimates of 75c and year ago earnings which also came in at 75c. The quarter featured a strong top line performance, with reported sales growth of 14.9% exceeding our 12.9% expectation for the quarter. However, Heinz primarily exceeded our EPS expectations due to an unusually low tax rate of 24% (we were at 28%)." Citigroup maintains its Buy rating and $62 price target on HJ Heinz, which closed yesterday at $52.04.