Dean Foods Stock Rating Upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus (DF)

Dean Foods (NYSE: DF) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday. The firm currently has a $21.00 price target on the stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded shares of Dean Foods from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note to investors on Wednesday. They now have a $21.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $18.00. Separately, analysts at KeyBanc Capital Mkts upgraded shares of Dean Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note to investors on Monday. They now have a $21.00 price target on the stock. Finally, analysts at KeyBanc upgraded shares of Dean Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note to investors on Monday. They now have a $21.00 price target on the stock.

Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, two have given an overweight rating, and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Dean Foods presently has a consensus rating of “overweight” and an average target price of $20.64.

Shares of Dean Foods opened at 17.27 on Friday. Dean Foods has a 52 week low of $11.45 and a 52 week high of $19.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $17.47. The company has a market cap of $3.201 billion and a P/E ratio of 19.10.

Dean Foods last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Dean Foods has set its Q1 guidance at $0.22-0.27 EPS and its FY13 guidance at $1.00-1.10 EPS. Analysts expect that Dean Foods will post $1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dean Foods Company is a food and beverage company. The Company operates through two segments: Fresh Dairy Direct and WhiteWave-Morningstar.

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