Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Dean Foods (NYSE: DF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday. The firm currently has $21.00 target price on the stock.

“Within the next few months, we believe Dean Foods will nearly complete its transformation as we expect most of the WhiteWave business to be spun-off to shareholders, its balance sheet should push below 3X debt/EBITDA, the company could introduce a dividend payment that could hold a 4%+ yield, and the earnings growth should stabilize following the lost customer, a stable milk price environment, and strong cost savings realization. Valuation is a catalyst for the stock – when excluding the value of the WhiteWave stake we find the base dairy business trading at just $5.50 per share and in relation to the $450 million in EBITDA it maintains a roughly 5X EV/EBITDA multiple.,” the firm’s analyst commented.

Shares of Dean Foods traded up 0.62% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $17.75. Dean Foods has a 52 week low of $11.45 and a 52 week high of $19.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $17.44. The company has a market cap of $3.300 billion and a P/E ratio of 20.66.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on DF. Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded shares of Dean Foods from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note to investors on Wednesday, March 6th. They now have a $21.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $18.00. Separately, analysts at KeyBanc Capital Mkts upgraded shares of Dean Foods from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note to investors on Monday, March 4th. They now have a $21.00 price target on the stock. Finally, analysts at KeyBanc upgraded shares of Dean Foods from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note to investors on Monday, March 4th. They now have a $21.00 price target on the stock.

Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, two have issued an overweight rating, and five have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of overweight and an average price target of $20.67.

Dean Foods Company is a food and beverage company. The Company operates through two segments: Fresh Dairy Direct and WhiteWave-Morningstar.

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