As revealed in another 13G filing, Balyasny Asset Management LLC currently owns 4.86 million shares of Dean Foods Co (NYSE:DF), which constitute 5.32% of the company’s outstanding stock. The firm owned a mere 20,034 shares of the food and beverage company at the end of September. The largest processor and direct-to-store distributor of fluid milk and other dairy products has seen its shares advance at least 20% since the beginning of the year, partly owing to lower milk input costs. Analysts anticipate that milk prices will decline approximately 6% in 2016, which will most likely strengthen Dean Foods’ fundamentals. The continued decline in milk prices is anticipated to boost fresh milk volumes and enhance the company’s profit margins. Numerous financial hubs recently have updated their ratings on Dean Foods Co (NYSE:DF) ahead of the company’s fourth-quarter earnings conference call that takes place on February 22. For instance, BB&T upgraded its rating on the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ and set a price target of $22, citing favorable dairy volume and margin trends. At the same time, Bernstein upgraded the stock to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ and lifted the price target to $25 from $21. The company’s net sales for the first nine months of 2015 totaled $6.10 billion, down from $7.11 billion reported for the same period of 2014. The decrease was mainly attributable to decreased pricing, which reflected the substantial decline in dairy commodity costs. Renaissance Technologies boosted its position in Dean Foods Co (NYSE:DF) by nearly 879,000 shares during the October-December period to 2.32 million shares.
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Let’s conclude our discussion by examining the content of another 13G filed by billionaire Dmitry Balyasny. The filing disclosed that Balyasny Asset Management recently initiated a new position of 1.20 million shares in CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR), which represents 5.16% of the company’s total shares. The stock of the oilfield services technology company has lost 63% over the past 12 months, on the back of the struggling oil and gas industry. The company’s primary source of revenues comes from the sale of production enhancement products and services to the oil and natural gas industry, so it is no wonder why CARBO has suffered so much pain in the past several quarters. CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR)’s revenues for 2015 decreased by 57% on the year to $279.57 million. The decline was mainly due to a 48% reduction in the average North American rig count, which impacted both proppant sales volumes and average selling prices. But what can investors expect from this struggling company going forward? It is anticipated that the North American rig count will most likely drop by double digits in the current quarter, so the company’s proppant sales will experience significant pressure in the first half of this year and beyond should crude oil prices remain at current levels. Royce & Associates, founded by Chuck Royce, cut its stake in CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR) by 338,546 shares during the fourth quarter, ending the year with 175,000 shares.
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