Can Dean Foods Beat These Numbers?

Updated

Dean Foods (NYS: DF) is expected to report Q4 earnings around Feb. 15. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

The 10-second takeaway
Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Dean Foods's revenues will grow 2.3% and EPS will grow 11.1%.

The average estimate for revenue is $3.37 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.30.


Revenue details
Last quarter, Dean Foods recorded revenue of $3.14 billion. GAAP reported sales were 7.8% lower than the prior-year quarter's $3.41 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Last quarter, non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.33. GAAP EPS were $0.20 for Q3 against -$8.39 per share for the prior-year quarter.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Recent performance
For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 24.9%, 320 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 4.2%, 150 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 1.2%, 4,640 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead

The full year's average estimate for revenue is $12.86 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.29.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 450 members out of 499 rating the stock outperform, and 49 members rating it underperform. Among 120 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 106 give Dean Foods a green thumbs-up, and 14 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Dean Foods is outperform, with an average price target of $18.56.

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The article Can Dean Foods Beat These Numbers? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool owns shares of Dean Foods Company. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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