Dean Foods Shares Jump On Upbeat First-quarter Guidance

Dean Foods Co. stock rose 2.6% in premarket trading after the company gave first-quarter 2016 guidance that exceeds expectations. The food and beverage company whose brands include TruMoo flavored milk, Country Fresh and Dean's, said it had fourth-quarter net income of $18 million, or 20 cents per share, up from $5 million, or 6 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings were 36 cents per share, beating the Factset consensus of 34 cents per share. Revenue for the quarter totaled $2.02 billion, down from $2.4 billion for the same period in 2014 and just missing the FactSet consensus of $2.07 billion. Milk costs declined 31% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2015. Dean Foods sees first-quarter adjusted earnings between 32 cents and 42 cents on continued commercial and brand initiatives, a cost focus and a favorable commodity environment, Chief Executive Gregg Tanner said in a release statement. The FactSet consensus is 32 cents per share. Dean Foods stock is up 23.8% for the past year while the S&P 500 is down 9.1% for the same period.