Shares of the Dean Foods Co. (NYSE: DF) gained on Tuesday after analysts at Janney Montgomery Scott raised their rating on the food and the beverage Company’s stock to “buy” from “neutral”, saying that Company recent decision to spin off its White Wave business will bring more financial flexibility and focus.
The upgrade from Montgomery Scott comes just after several other equity research firms revised their ratings on the stock, lately.
On May 13th, analysts at Ned David Research slashed their rating on the stock to a “neutral” from “buy”. Last Friday, analysts at Stephens downgraded the stock to “equal weight” from “overweight” while BMO Capital Market in its research report released last Thursday maintained “outperform” rating on the stock with $22.00 price target.
Currently, eleven equity research firms maintain a “buy” rating, fours firms have assigned “hold” rating while one equity research firm keeps “sell” rating on the stock. On average, the stock has a “buy” rating and a price target of $20.89.
The Company reported its fiscal first quarter results on May 9th. For the quarter, the Dallas TX based Company posted adjusted earnings of 29 cents a share compared to earnings of 25 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue during the quarter edged up to $2.88 billion from $2.87 billion. Analysts’ consensus estimate was for earnings of 27 cents a share on revenue of $2.98 million. The Wall Street expects earnings of $1.09 a share for the current fiscal year.
For the second quarter, the Company is expecting earnings to be in the range of 11 to 15 cents a share, excluding operating results from White Wave. The Street’s consensus estimate was for 28 cents a share.
For the full-year, Dean Foods anticipates earnings to be in the range of 45 to 55 cents a share, excluding White Wave results while analysts’ consensus estimate was for earnings of $1.08 a share.
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