Tyson Foods, Ecolab: S&P Gainers

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - Tyson Foods(TSN) and Ecolab(ECL) were among the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 on Monday.

The S&P 500 ticked up roughly half a point, or 0.04%, to close at 1,369.58.

Shares of Tyson Foods rose 3.27% to $18.63. The chicken processing company reported second-quarter earnings of $166 million, or 44 cents a share, up from year-earlier earnings of $159 million, or 42 cents. Analysts, on average, expected Tyson to earn 38 cents a share on $8.47 billion.

Second-quarter sales were $8.3 billion, up from $8 billion last year.

Shares of Tyson Foods currently trade at an estimated price-to-earnings ratio for next year of 8.13X; the average for food products companies is 17.71X. For comparison, ConAgra(CAG) has a higher forward P/E of 13.37X.

Ten of the 15 analysts who cover Tyson Foods rate it at buy; five analysts give the stock a hold rating.

The stock has fallen 9.74% year to date.