Dairy giant Dean Foods ran a great race in 2013, but what happens this year? The company's herculean effort to deleverage its balance sheet and position itself as a leaner, more nimble dairy company had early payoffs last year. This year, there may be fewer press releases to grab headlines and less investor interest. Market interest aside, Dean Foods today is a leaner, cash-focused machine that has the potential to continue delivering alpha in an otherwise strapped industry. Here's what you need to know about America's largest dairy company in 2014.
Flowing
Dean Foods' list of achievements last year should have earned its management a "Best of" award. In the first days of January 2013, the company completed its sale of Morningstar Foods to Saputo for a cool $887 million, net of tax and expenses. That cash was used as a balance sheet cleanup kit — and it worked. Right on the heels of Morningstar was WhiteWave Foods, which was successfully spun off (in a tax-advantageous manner) and delivered even more cash to its former parent.
Dean Foods also put into play big-time cost-cutting measures that will aid the company to deliver $100 million or more in free cash flow beginning this year.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Motley Fool/Daily Finance
