Kraft Foods Rises on Upgrade

Is the Kraft Foods(KFT Quote) three-year turnaround plan finally paying off?

Two years into that oft-cited turnaround plan, Kraft was upgraded by BMO Capital Markets analyst Kenneth Zaslow to outperform from market perform citing the weakening U.S. dollar, changes in management and cheaper ingredient prices.

Kraft is focusing on new products and key brands, as well as relaying a message of value to consumers -- an effort to improve sales, which were down 6.5% to $9.4 billion in the first quarter.

Zaslow wrote that he expects Kraft to outperform the S&P 500 and generate a more than 15% return in the next 12 months. ...