NEW YORK (AP) — A bankruptcy court has approved the asset sale of one of the U.S.'s biggest dairy companies, Dean Foods.
Dean Foods Co. got the go-ahead to sell $433 million worth of properties and interests to the Dairy Farmers of America. Dean filed for bankruptcy protection in November of last year. Another major milk producer, Borden Dairy Co., filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year.
The dairy industry has been struggling for decades as consumers increasingly shun milk for juice, soda and an array of non-dairy milk substitutes made from soy, almonds or oats. Since 1975, the amount of liquid milk consumed per capita in the U.S. has tumbled more than 40%.
In addition to the sale of several production facilities and distribution branches, Dallas-based Dean has also lined up buyers for several of its brands, including Uncle Matt's, Berkeley Farms and Meadow Gold Hawaii.
Best Growth Stocks - Best Stocks to Buy Now
The stock market has been growing since the New York Stock Exchange opened its doors in 1817. Sometimes, a stock will outpace the rest of the market in terms of growth. These skyrocketing securities—or the ones that analysts expect to skyrocket—are called growth stocks.
What Every Investor Needs to Know About Growth Stocks
Growth stocks are a great opportunity for an investor to make money in the stock market, but you’ve got to know what you’re going to buy or sell. A good understanding of growth stocks will help you get there.
At the beginning of a bull market, you can almost choose stocks randomly and find yourself a winner. Now that we are entering the ninth year of the current bull market, growth stocks have appreciated considerably and it's becoming far more challenging to find stocks with real opportunities for appreciation.
Growth companies are still largely outperforming their value counterparts in the United States and the rest of the world largely because of low interest rates, improved corporate earnings and global economic growth. Over the last five years, the S&P 500 Growth Index has returned 14.22% per year. During the same time, the S&P 500 Value Index returned just 12.94%.
Now that the bull market is now nearly a decade old, stocks have become very expensive. Value investors are largely sitting on the sidelines and growth investors are having a hard time figuring out where the remaining growth opportunities exist.
If you are looking for growth stocks in an increasingly small field, we have identified the 10 best growth stocks to buy right now based on their expected earnings growth over the next several years. These companies are all growing rapidly and will likely see double-digit earnings growth next year.
View the "Best Growth Stocks - Best Stocks to Buy Now".
