Dean Foods (DF, $4.55) shares fall -16%, on wider than expected loss and dividend halt

Dean Foods stock price took a hit in pre-market Wednesday, as the dairy food & beverage company reported a sharper loss than expected for the fourth quarter, and halted its dividend payouts.

On an adjusted basis, Dean Foods loss of -50 cents a share in the quarter was worse than the -26 cents a share loss expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet. Sales of $1.93 billion, however, were higher than the FactSet consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. 

The company announced that it is suspending its quarterly dividend.

CEO Ralph Scozzafava indicated that the company is actively exploring ways to enhance shareholder value, and that it is reviewing “strategic alternatives” for that purpose. That includes consideration of options such as the sale of certain assets or the formation of a joint venture. The largest U.S. supplier of milk and dairy food is apparently facing challenges from a growing popularity of non-dairy and private-label products.

The stock plunged as much as -16% in pre-market trading Wednesday.

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Sergey Savastiouk|Expert

Sergey Savastiouk, Ph.D. has a degree in Applied Mathematics from Moscow University and has extensive experience as an entrepreneur, investor, manager, and mathematician. His professional expertise is in applied mathematics, mathematical modeling, system and pattern analysis, and software and hardware system integration. He has served as the CEO of several hi-tech start-up companies and nonprofit organizations, which has given him proven capabilities in business strategy for high-tech start-up companies, market assessment, company formation, team building, product development, marketing, and sales. He has published numerous articles in journals and magazines on related fields. As a retail investor, he spent 15 years developing his proprietary trading and quantitative algorithms (now Tickeron’s A.I.), which brought him significant returns in trading the stock market. His current work and goal in founding Tickeron is to bring professional, sophisticated stock market analysis capabilities to retail investors via an easy-to-use interface.