Dean Foods Company (NYSE:DF)

French writer Jean Giraudoux said, "The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made."

Dean Foods markets to the organic foods market. Food faddists widely regard them as a fraud. Not a good sign for the price of their stock. Let us know when they do a better job of faking their sincerity.

Their soy products are very good. To judge by the available products, there's no single concept of what constitutes soy milk. Some products come up chunky even when well mixed or they coagulate when you add, say, coffee to them. DF's Silk soy milk does neither of these--DF consistently produces a soy milk that behaves like milk, but--IMO--tastes much better. Their unsweetened Silk has a much better balance of carbs (low) to protein (high) than most products on the market, so it will appeal to those drinking soy milk for health reasons. Their Silk soy yogurt (soygurt) has similar virtues and I prefer it over all of the other brands of soygurt I have tried. Evidently, DF is doing something right in this line of their offerings.

ton of debt, crappy margins. fair ROE but minimal fcf. i don't like anything about this thing.

A good company undergoing some problems, but management will correct and the company will bounce back. Undervalued.

High dairy prices will hamper earnings for the next few months.

Should come back eventually, regardless of raw milk price excalation. WhiteWave foods subsidary has some good brands (Silk, Land O' Lakes, Horizon Organic) that sell very well as far as I know.

Talking about $5 gallons of milk on the TV the other day... I think this one will come back eventually...

Look for higher raw milk prices to cut into profits in the short term

I feel DF's Horizon line of Organic products is a hot and increasing consumer trend. This will surely add to their bottom line.

With its recent special cash dividend (financed by debt), this company is in the mist of a capital restructuring. It's a stables stock and even during times of economic recession, people still intake diary products in their diet.

FLUSH WITH CASH,ISSUED SPECIAL DIVIDEND SHOULD OUTPERFORM PEERS FOR NEXT 6 MONTHS OR SO.

got milk?

Never heard of them

population growth will allow for steady product demand. demand along with aquisitions.feed price increaseswii mean higher dairy prices.

ton o cash

Dean finance the special dividend $15 ($2 billion) through a new $4.8 billion borrowing. You have to paid tax on the $15 dividend. This is the worst plan in the world. Downgrades by 2 research firms from Strong Buy & Buy to Hold. S&P and Moody also lowered the company's credit ratings.

dean foods

Silk Soymilk and Horizen organic milk are both monster brands in natural foods. Even tho the natural foods segment of DF only represents roughly 15% of their business, I believe it will represent well over a third within several years. I don't believe the market has realized the true value of these brands. Additionally, the rest of their business is solid. Dean's milk has created the perception of being a higher quality brand. Management seems to be focusing resources intelligently..

Great products. Horizon, Land of Lakes, and Silk. Got to have your dairy!