Dean Foods Company
(
DF
) is set to report its fourth quarter 2012 results on Feb 13.
Last quarter it posted an approximate +17.9% surprise. Let's see
how things are shaping up for this announcement.
Growth Factors in the Past Quarter
Despite a decline of 7.8% in net sales, Dean Foods' adjusted
earnings for the last-reported quarter jumped 83% to 33 cents per
share. The improvement was an outcome of disciplined expense
control on all fronts throughout the organization. The company
continues to make headway with its efforts to achieve the lowest
cost position in the industry. We believe that the company has
benefited from continued focus on cost reduction initiatives
across its businesses. Further, as the U.S. economy is showing
signs of stabilization, we believe that Dean Foods is well
positioned to capitalize on the opportunity.
Earnings Whispers?
Our proven model does not conclusively show that Dean Foods is
likely to beat earnings this quarter. That is because a stock
needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP (Read:
Zacks Earnings ESP: A Better Method
) and a Zacks Rank #1, #2 or #3 for this to happen. That is not
the case here, owing to the following factors:
Zacks ESP:
ESP for Dean Foods is 0.00%. This is because the Most Accurate
Estimate stands at 30 cents, which is in line with the Zacks
Consensus Estimate.
Zacks #3 Rank (Hold):
Dean Foods' Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) lowers the predictive power of
ESP because the Rank #3, when combined with a 0.00% ESP makes
surprise prediction difficult. We caution against stocks with
Zacks #4 and #5 Ranks (Sell rated stocks) going into the earnings
announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative
estimate revisions momentum.
Other Stocks to Consider
Here are some other companies you may want to consider. Our
model shows that the following companies have the right
combination of elements to post an earnings beat this
quarter:
Flowers Foods Inc.
(
FLO
) has an Earnings ESP of +5.56% and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong
Buy).
J&J Snack Foods Corporation
's (
JJSF
) Earnings ESP stands at +5.00% and it carries a Zacks Rank #1
(Strong Buy).
Adecoagro S.A.
(
AGRO
) with an Earnings ESP of +71.43%, holds a Zacks Rank #3
(Hold).
ADECOAGRO SA (AGRO): Free Stock Analysis
Report
DEAN FOODS CO (DF): Free Stock Analysis
Report
FLOWERS FOODS (FLO): Free Stock Analysis
Report
J&J SNACK FOODS (JJSF): Free Stock Analysis
Report
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