Is There a Stock that Can Offer Sweet Returns?

With Valentines Day fast approaching, many retail stores have cleared out Christmas decorations and have set aside a minimum of 2-4 aisles solely dedicated to Valentines Day candy.

Aisles chocked full of Hershey Kisses, Lindt Chocolates, Conversation Hearts, and of course, Dark Chocolate.

We have seen the health features in the news boasting the antioxidant benefits of Dark Chocolate. Psychologists have endorsed the mood elevation benefits. Travel resorts selling romance packages have marketed that their dessert menu's contain many recipes featuring Dark Chocolate to invoke intimacy. Never before has a candy received such rave reviews across the board.

Dark Chocolate has been armed with great public relations and endorsements from the medical community. Does this represent a good sign to add candy makers that feature Dark Chocolate products to your stock portfolio? Absolutely.

One way to select a stock, would be to research the Confectioners and Major-Food Diversified Industry to compare financial reports and returns.

Most confectioner companies like Lindt and Endangered Species Chocolate Company are privately held.

Hershey investors have had a tough fourth quarter, they had a product recall in Canada and sales in general have been falling. Many investors are holding on to their Hershey stock because of their belief in Hershey's brand equity. Aside from Hershey, there are some new mergers and other companies to investigate.

A merger to watch is Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., the worlds largest chewing gum company, and their purchase of A. Korkunov, a chocolate company in Russia, for $300 million. A. Korkunov is the second largest company in the Russia in the premium boxed chocolate category. The market watch shows that shares of Wrigley are already starting to rise.

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc. (RMCF) since it's inception in November of 1993 has had 5 stock splits and increasing dividends. Rocky Mountain expects to grow it's bottom- line profit between 17% and 22%. Research shows that Rocky Mountain is managing it's cash flow and their dividend obligations well. At under $14.00 a share, it would be an ideal stock to research for a newbie investor.

If you wish to try the approach of casting a larger net to invest in, you can think from the perspective of walking down the aisle in a large store like Walmart (WMT) or Target (TGT).Picture yourself watching all of those shoppers loading up their carts with huge bags of Valentines Day Candy like Snickers, Whoppers, Junior Mints and Chocolate Kisses. From an investment standpoint, it would be a good idea to research retail chains that attract massive foot traffic. Since August of 2005, Walmart stock price has continued to rise with steady dividends.

An investor may also want to research other concept stores with recently upgraded stocks also expecting gains from chocolate candy sales. BJ's Wholesale Club Inc (BJ) known for Costco wholesale outlet, is an amazing company that has spent zero dollars on advertising and has shot it's way to success by word of mouth and offering top of the line products.

For those who give your children a dollar bill and tell them to go into a store and pick out any candy they desire, will not want to pass a 99 Cent Only store (NDN). This chain offers deep discount retail, closeouts and private labels at prices below wholesale. The discount retailer recently announced that their store locations that have been open a minimum of one year have reported revenue growth of 1.9%.

As you can see, there are many ways to locate a stock that can offer a sweet return. You can narrow your selection to a company that produces a tasty treat or widen your target range to investing in a chain that offers incentive to get their shoppers to buy more. By evaluating free cash flow and history of success there are so many choices that can offer a sweet combination.