Dean Foods, Ingersoll-Rand: S&P Gainers

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - Dean Foods(DF) and Ingersoll-Rand(IR) were among the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 fell 9.14 points, or 0.67%, to close at 1,354.58.

Shares of Dean Foods rose 11.24% to $14.15. The food products company reported first-quarter earnings excluding certain items of $57 million, or 31 cents a share. This topped Wall Street's consensus estimate of 21 cents a share in earnings.

Dean Foods' stock hit a 52-week high Wednesday of $14.45. The stock's 52-week low of $7.83 was set on June 6.

The shares trade at an estimated price-to-earnings ratio for next year of 11.86X; the average for food products companies is 17.56X. For comparison, Ralcorp(RAH) has a higher forward P/e of 17.36X.

Seven of the 13 analysts who cover Dean Foods rate it at hold. Five analysts give the stock a buy rating and one rates it at sell.

The stock has risen 26.34% year to date.