PetSmart, Inc. (PETM), which is a leading operator of superstores specializing in pet food, supplies and services in the United States, announced after the markets closed on Thursday that the company’s profits declined more than 20%, despite the fact that their revenues increased during the 2Q. For the recent period, PETM posted earnings of $37.2M, or $0.30 per share, judged against last year’s total of $47.1M, or $0.35 per share, which had a one-time benefit of $6.7M.
The company did, however, manage to increase their overall sales, adding more than 11% from last year to total $1.2B. Market experts were anticipating that PETM post earnings of $0.28 per share on total sales of $1.2B. In extended trading, shares of PetSmart climbed to $25 a share, but Friday’s results were better, adding more than 10%, or $2.55 a share to end the week at $26.97.
In a statement made by the company’s CFO, he was quoted as saying "PetSmart delivered on its plan for the first half and we feel good about delivering on our targets for all of 2008." Based upon that, the company issued additional information in that they reiterated their full-year expectations for 2008 in which the company is expecting earnings per share to be between $1.51 and $1.59. The ultimate factor to the company’s upcoming success will lay with the overall production of same-store sales which measures the growth of stores which have been operational for at least one year. The company is anticipating that PetSmart will be able to improve sales by single-digits.
Along with management being high on the company’s performance and outlook for the remainder of the year, analysts and market experts alike have similar views about the company as well. One analyst, from Deutsche Bank, stated that PetSmart has the wherewithal to maintain positive earnings due to the ability to pass along higher cost to the consumer. The analyst also added that PetSmart represents a “relatively good defensive option” for those looking to invest within the retail industry, and currently holds a “buy” rating on the stock with a $26 target price, which the company surpassed during today’s trading session.
Within the specialty retail industry, more namely, the pet service sector, PetSmart is considered the benchmark for the sector as the company provides more services than their competitors. Beside the sale of pet food and related products, the company also offers grooming, boarding and day camps, and surprisingly, veterinary services.
In a national survey done by the American Pet Product Manufacturers Association (APPMA) for 2007-2008 concluded that more than 71 million households owned a pet, which equates to approximately 63% of all Americans. And with pets becoming more and more like family members, the fact that consumers are willing to spend more on name brands than discount brands, PetSmart is positioned nicely to reap from those consumers. Owners will be more than willing to give up some of their luxury items when spending is tight in order to keep their family members content.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
BetterTrades looks at Greif Brothers Corp. - August 28, 2008
Greif Brothers Corp. (GEF), which manufactures and markets a broad variety of superior quality industrial shipping containers, which include fiber drums, plastic drums, steel drums, intermediate bulk containers, and multi-wall bags, and containerboards, and corrugated products, which include semi-chemical and recycled medium, recycled linerboard, corrugated boxes and corrugated honeycomb products, as well as timber properties. Greif provides innovative packaging solutions to meet the ever-changing needs of its customers, and with that, the company announced their earnings after the bell yesterday in which they reported earnings which shot up some 32% from last year’s results.
Confirmed last night, the company posted 3Q net income of $64.6M, or $1.10 per share, which was up noticeably from last year’s figures of $48.8M, or $0.82 per share. With the current results, there was a one-time charge that the company incurred which, if excluded, the firm would have posted quarterly earnings of $1.18 per share. During the same time period, Greif’s revenues advanced as well, climbing some 18% year-over-year, from $847.2M last year, to $1.03B this year. The quarter's results "benefited from our business system and geographic diversity, which mitigated the impact of sharp increases in raw material and other input costs," said Michael J. Gasser, chairman and chief executive of Grief Brothers. On average, analysts were anticipating that the industrial packaging company post earnings of $1.13 per share.
With another strong performance, quarter-over-quarter, and higher-than-expected profits in their industry led the company to boost full-year earnings-per-share expectations to a range between $4.45 and $4.55, up from a range of $4.25 and $4.45 after the close of the 2Q. Since the beginning of 2001, the company has been able to grow some 46% to have a current market cap of $3.2B. And with the stock closing in on its 52-week high of $73, set in early June, the stock has increased nearly 8.5% over the past year, while the S&P has been lagging, down more than 12%.
There are numerous fundamental attributes that makes this company’s stock very attractive. Included is the ability to grow earnings, and with that, over the past five years, Greif has been able to post earnings growth of almost 37%, when anything between 18% and 25% is considered stellar. As for the company’s balance sheet, they carry minimal debt and presently possess a Current Ratio of 1.438, which means that for every dollar of debt, they have a dollar-forty to cover it. And finally, the company has some $255M on cash flow and is able to produce a current dividend yield of 2.4%, and has been able to increase their dividend nearly six-fold since 2003.
As for the industry itself in which Greif Brothers are apart of. One analyst from Wachovia Capital Markets was noted as saying that the packaging sector could be in position for a prolonged bull market if the price of energy is on the way down. The reason behind that was that packaging makers are increasingly heavy energy users, as they consumer large amounts of oil and natural gas in order to operate their plants and in the forming process of plastics and other products they produce. The main concern to be aware of is that companies like Greif are still paying higher costs for raw materials and over the last year, the price of natural gas has increased some 54%, despite the recent sell-off over the past week or so.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Confirmed last night, the company posted 3Q net income of $64.6M, or $1.10 per share, which was up noticeably from last year’s figures of $48.8M, or $0.82 per share. With the current results, there was a one-time charge that the company incurred which, if excluded, the firm would have posted quarterly earnings of $1.18 per share. During the same time period, Greif’s revenues advanced as well, climbing some 18% year-over-year, from $847.2M last year, to $1.03B this year. The quarter's results "benefited from our business system and geographic diversity, which mitigated the impact of sharp increases in raw material and other input costs," said Michael J. Gasser, chairman and chief executive of Grief Brothers. On average, analysts were anticipating that the industrial packaging company post earnings of $1.13 per share.
With another strong performance, quarter-over-quarter, and higher-than-expected profits in their industry led the company to boost full-year earnings-per-share expectations to a range between $4.45 and $4.55, up from a range of $4.25 and $4.45 after the close of the 2Q. Since the beginning of 2001, the company has been able to grow some 46% to have a current market cap of $3.2B. And with the stock closing in on its 52-week high of $73, set in early June, the stock has increased nearly 8.5% over the past year, while the S&P has been lagging, down more than 12%.
There are numerous fundamental attributes that makes this company’s stock very attractive. Included is the ability to grow earnings, and with that, over the past five years, Greif has been able to post earnings growth of almost 37%, when anything between 18% and 25% is considered stellar. As for the company’s balance sheet, they carry minimal debt and presently possess a Current Ratio of 1.438, which means that for every dollar of debt, they have a dollar-forty to cover it. And finally, the company has some $255M on cash flow and is able to produce a current dividend yield of 2.4%, and has been able to increase their dividend nearly six-fold since 2003.
As for the industry itself in which Greif Brothers are apart of. One analyst from Wachovia Capital Markets was noted as saying that the packaging sector could be in position for a prolonged bull market if the price of energy is on the way down. The reason behind that was that packaging makers are increasingly heavy energy users, as they consumer large amounts of oil and natural gas in order to operate their plants and in the forming process of plastics and other products they produce. The main concern to be aware of is that companies like Greif are still paying higher costs for raw materials and over the last year, the price of natural gas has increased some 54%, despite the recent sell-off over the past week or so.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
BetterTrades looks at Solarfun Power Holding Inc. - August 27, 2008
Solarfun Power Holding Inc. (SOLF) manufactures both PV cells and PV modules, provides PV cell processing services to convert silicon wafers into PV cells, and supplies solar system integration services in China. They produce both monocrystalline and multicrystalline silicon cells and modules, and manufactures 100% of its modules within- house produced PV cells. Solarfun sells its products both through third party distributors and directly to system integrators.
The Chinese company reported before the markets opened today in which they stated that for their 2Q, the company recorded a net income of $11.4M, or $0.23 per share, along with overall sales increasing nearly 13% year-over-year to $197.1M. For the recent period, analysts were anticipating that the solar cell maker post earnings of $0.22 per share on $182.8M in total revenues. Even with a solid earnings report, the stock didn’t fair to well by the end of the session, losing more than 14%, or $2.58, to conclude the day at $16.36 a share.
In some recent news for the company, Solarfun announced early this morning that they have entered into an agreement with Germany’s Q-Cells International AG to supply photovoltaic modules for the next three years. Under the agreement, Q-Cells will purchase from Solarfun a minimum of 100 megawatts of modules per year from 2009 through 2011. Upon announcement of the deal, financial terms were not released. This comes as a very good thing for the company as earlier today the company also advised investors that the average selling price of their modules may decline in 2009.
Solarfun affirmed that the company is now expecting the average selling prices of their photovoltaic modules to decline 5% to 10% from expected fiscal 2008 prices. Although selling prices thus far for 2008 have been above average, the company reported that during their 2Q, the price per watt increased from $4.07 to $4.17 per watt. For the remainder of the year, Solarfun has increased their expected shipment orders from 160MW to 180MW upwards to 175MW to 190MW.
Thus far, the company has had relatively good success in producing and selling their products throughout the world. And in fact, only 10% of their business is done within their home country of China. Included in their success, the company announced since the beginning of the year that they have entered into several agreements to supply their solar products throughout the world. Case in point, Solarfun has signed a 47 MW sales contract to supply PV modules to Schuco International KG between December 2008 and October 2009, with installations targeted for the Middle East and southeast Europe, along with another contract that was signed in which a 30 MW sales contract to supply PV modules to Martifer Solar Sistemas Solares, a leading solar project developer, installer and producer in Europe, from January through December 2009. The Martifer contract is estimated to be worth between $300M and $350M
Looking ahead to 2009, Solarfun is projecting that the company’s total shipments will increase 50% over 2008’s full-year results while already booking some 200MW worth of contracts thus far. In addition to the increase in shipments, the company is also anticipating that the company will incorporate another 120MW worth of capacity expansion for their integrated cell and module production. Hopefully, with a decrease in the polysilicon-related costs will provide the potential for gross margin improvement of upwards of some five hundred basis points for full-year 2009.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
The Chinese company reported before the markets opened today in which they stated that for their 2Q, the company recorded a net income of $11.4M, or $0.23 per share, along with overall sales increasing nearly 13% year-over-year to $197.1M. For the recent period, analysts were anticipating that the solar cell maker post earnings of $0.22 per share on $182.8M in total revenues. Even with a solid earnings report, the stock didn’t fair to well by the end of the session, losing more than 14%, or $2.58, to conclude the day at $16.36 a share.
In some recent news for the company, Solarfun announced early this morning that they have entered into an agreement with Germany’s Q-Cells International AG to supply photovoltaic modules for the next three years. Under the agreement, Q-Cells will purchase from Solarfun a minimum of 100 megawatts of modules per year from 2009 through 2011. Upon announcement of the deal, financial terms were not released. This comes as a very good thing for the company as earlier today the company also advised investors that the average selling price of their modules may decline in 2009.
Solarfun affirmed that the company is now expecting the average selling prices of their photovoltaic modules to decline 5% to 10% from expected fiscal 2008 prices. Although selling prices thus far for 2008 have been above average, the company reported that during their 2Q, the price per watt increased from $4.07 to $4.17 per watt. For the remainder of the year, Solarfun has increased their expected shipment orders from 160MW to 180MW upwards to 175MW to 190MW.
Thus far, the company has had relatively good success in producing and selling their products throughout the world. And in fact, only 10% of their business is done within their home country of China. Included in their success, the company announced since the beginning of the year that they have entered into several agreements to supply their solar products throughout the world. Case in point, Solarfun has signed a 47 MW sales contract to supply PV modules to Schuco International KG between December 2008 and October 2009, with installations targeted for the Middle East and southeast Europe, along with another contract that was signed in which a 30 MW sales contract to supply PV modules to Martifer Solar Sistemas Solares, a leading solar project developer, installer and producer in Europe, from January through December 2009. The Martifer contract is estimated to be worth between $300M and $350M
Looking ahead to 2009, Solarfun is projecting that the company’s total shipments will increase 50% over 2008’s full-year results while already booking some 200MW worth of contracts thus far. In addition to the increase in shipments, the company is also anticipating that the company will incorporate another 120MW worth of capacity expansion for their integrated cell and module production. Hopefully, with a decrease in the polysilicon-related costs will provide the potential for gross margin improvement of upwards of some five hundred basis points for full-year 2009.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
BetterTrades looks at Daktronics Inc. - August 26, 2008
Daktronics Inc. (DAKT) is one of the world's largest suppliers of electronic scoreboards, computer-programmable displays, and large screen video displays and control systems. The company excels in the control of large display systems, including those that require integration of multiple complex displays showing real-time information, graphics, animation and video. Daktronics designs, manufactures, markets and services display systems for customers around the world in sport, business and transportation applications.
In a statement released early Tuesday morning, Daktronics confirmed that company’s net income surged nearly 37% year-over-year. For the firm’s 1Q Daktronics recorded earnings of $9.7M, or $0.24 per share, compared to last year’s results of $7.1M, or $0.17 per share. The company attributes the current figures to increased sales within their billboard business as sales surged more than 33%, from last year’s total of $120.9M to this year’s total of $161.2M. Analysts were anticipating earnings for the company to come in at $0.17 per share based on total revenues of $141.5M.
As previously stated, the company benefited greatly from their commercial business, which includes billboards, as their business increased some 29% from last year, along with an increase in orders for the quarter advancing 15%. The increase in orders excludes the company’s recent agreement with the Meadowland to the tune of $45M in which Daktronics will provide their services to one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive integrated LED video display and scoring systems for the new stadium in East Rutherford, N.J, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2010.
The Daktronics system will consist of multiple displays inside the stadium in which four large primary video displays, each measuring approximately 103 feet wide by 30 feet high, will be prominently positioned at the club level in the four corners of the seating bowl. One 360 degree LED ribbon board, game-in-progress displays, and play clocks will complement the primary video screens providing fans with additional information. The future home of the National Football League New York Jets and New York Giants will have seating for 82,500 fans, including more than 200 luxury suites, 9,200 club seats, two club lounges and four restaurants.
In addition to their screen displays within sporting venues, the company also provides hi-def screens and displays for advertising firms such as Clear Channel Outdoor (CCO), and Lamar Advertising (LAMR). In an industry were advertising has been a means to increase the exposure to product awareness, digital signs and displays have helped measure the effectiveness of out-of-home marketing. It has been estimated that the cost of advertising on television comes to over $15 per image, compared to $5.20 for a newspaper ad, while billboards and digital signs’ costs are much lower, averaging only $2.15 for a single image.
For fiscal 2009, Daktronics expects net sales to rise by more than 20% from the $499.7M it posted for fiscal year 2008, while analysts are looking for total sales to come in around $598.6M. Additionally, the company is anticipating that their operating margins will increase from 8% to 9.5%, but may vary due to fluctuations in the company’s gross margin. The company’s overall sales will also vary dependant upon their number of larger contracts which could cause their overall revenue levels to adjust. By the end of today’s trading session, shares of Daktronics were down despite being in the green most of the day. The stock lost $0.61, or 3.4%, to conclude the session at $17.50 a share.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
In a statement released early Tuesday morning, Daktronics confirmed that company’s net income surged nearly 37% year-over-year. For the firm’s 1Q Daktronics recorded earnings of $9.7M, or $0.24 per share, compared to last year’s results of $7.1M, or $0.17 per share. The company attributes the current figures to increased sales within their billboard business as sales surged more than 33%, from last year’s total of $120.9M to this year’s total of $161.2M. Analysts were anticipating earnings for the company to come in at $0.17 per share based on total revenues of $141.5M.
As previously stated, the company benefited greatly from their commercial business, which includes billboards, as their business increased some 29% from last year, along with an increase in orders for the quarter advancing 15%. The increase in orders excludes the company’s recent agreement with the Meadowland to the tune of $45M in which Daktronics will provide their services to one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive integrated LED video display and scoring systems for the new stadium in East Rutherford, N.J, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2010.
The Daktronics system will consist of multiple displays inside the stadium in which four large primary video displays, each measuring approximately 103 feet wide by 30 feet high, will be prominently positioned at the club level in the four corners of the seating bowl. One 360 degree LED ribbon board, game-in-progress displays, and play clocks will complement the primary video screens providing fans with additional information. The future home of the National Football League New York Jets and New York Giants will have seating for 82,500 fans, including more than 200 luxury suites, 9,200 club seats, two club lounges and four restaurants.
In addition to their screen displays within sporting venues, the company also provides hi-def screens and displays for advertising firms such as Clear Channel Outdoor (CCO), and Lamar Advertising (LAMR). In an industry were advertising has been a means to increase the exposure to product awareness, digital signs and displays have helped measure the effectiveness of out-of-home marketing. It has been estimated that the cost of advertising on television comes to over $15 per image, compared to $5.20 for a newspaper ad, while billboards and digital signs’ costs are much lower, averaging only $2.15 for a single image.
For fiscal 2009, Daktronics expects net sales to rise by more than 20% from the $499.7M it posted for fiscal year 2008, while analysts are looking for total sales to come in around $598.6M. Additionally, the company is anticipating that their operating margins will increase from 8% to 9.5%, but may vary due to fluctuations in the company’s gross margin. The company’s overall sales will also vary dependant upon their number of larger contracts which could cause their overall revenue levels to adjust. By the end of today’s trading session, shares of Daktronics were down despite being in the green most of the day. The stock lost $0.61, or 3.4%, to conclude the session at $17.50 a share.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Monday, August 25, 2008
BetterTrades looks at Precision Drilling Corp. - August 25, 2008
In a battle for Grey Wolf that has been going on for the past several months, it was announced today that Precision Drilling has acquired the drilling company for more than $2B in cash and stocks. Before the deal went through, Precision was competing with Basic Energy Services Inc. (BAS) for the right to acquire Grey Wolf, which had been trying to attain the company since April.
In April, well-site services company Basic Energy agreed to pay Grey Wolf shareholders $1.82 in cash and 0.25 share of the new company for each of their shares. Basic Energy holders would receive $6.70 in cash and 0.9195 of a share. Based on the companies' closing stock prices April 18th, the combined firm would be worth $2.9B, along with the deal carrying a $30M breakup fee.
Grey Wolf, Inc. (GW) is a leading provider of contract oil and gas land drilling services in the United States serving both major and independent oil and gas companies with a premium fleet of 117 rigs. In the combined markets of South Texas, the Gulf Coast, Arkansas-Louisiana-Texas and Mississippi-Alabama, Grey Wolf is a market leader in the region that holds the nation's most significant onshore natural gas reserves. To further that strategy, Grey Wolf expanded its market presence to the Rocky Mountains and West Texas.
On the other hand, Precision Drilling Corporation (PDS) is an innovative, performance oriented, integrated oilfield drilling and energy service company. They are committed to providing technologically advanced equipment, and expertise, a safe operating environment, and quality service to the oil and gas and industrial businesses.
Under the new agreement, Precision will pay $1.12B in cash and 42M shares valued at $896.7M, based on Friday's closing stock price. The new offer involves less cash, but would give Grey Wolf shareholders a larger stake in the new company through an increased share offering. Though the combined price comes to nearly a dollar less than the $10 per-share that Precision had offered earlier, the deal gives Grey Wolf shareholders a 25% stake in the new company, which will be one of the biggest operators in North America. In the deal, Precision will also gain access to operations in practically every gas and oil basin in the U.S. and Canada, along with emerging markets in Mexico.
Precision Drilling is Canada's largest drilling contractor with a fleet of 240 service rigs and focuses primarily on oil and gas fields of western Canada. The combination also provides cohesiveness to secure greater cost advantages through the adoption of common operational support systems including procurement, maintenance, and enterprise wide information systems. Although the closure of the deal has not yet been set between the two companies, a proxy statement will be delivered to Grey Wolf shareholders by the end of the 3Q and is subject to approval by shareholders and regulatory acceptance.
On an operational basis, Precision would become one of the largest land drillers in North America with a combined fleet of 371 drilling rigs following the acquisition. The combined unit would also provide 229 service rigs, camp and catering, rig manufacturing and repair, snubbing, rentals, wastewater treatment and a turnkey drilling business. On paper, the combined revenues were $1.8B for the past year ending in June.
By the close of Monday’s trading session, shares of Grey Wolf were down by the conclusion, lower by $0.11, or 1.3%, to end at $8.48 per share, while shares of Precision Drilling were down even more, lower by $1.17, or 5.5%, to $20.18 per share. Over the past 52-weeks, shares of GW have traded in a range between $4.85 and $9.65, while shares of PDS have been trading between $14.91 and $28.59 per share.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
In April, well-site services company Basic Energy agreed to pay Grey Wolf shareholders $1.82 in cash and 0.25 share of the new company for each of their shares. Basic Energy holders would receive $6.70 in cash and 0.9195 of a share. Based on the companies' closing stock prices April 18th, the combined firm would be worth $2.9B, along with the deal carrying a $30M breakup fee.
Grey Wolf, Inc. (GW) is a leading provider of contract oil and gas land drilling services in the United States serving both major and independent oil and gas companies with a premium fleet of 117 rigs. In the combined markets of South Texas, the Gulf Coast, Arkansas-Louisiana-Texas and Mississippi-Alabama, Grey Wolf is a market leader in the region that holds the nation's most significant onshore natural gas reserves. To further that strategy, Grey Wolf expanded its market presence to the Rocky Mountains and West Texas.
On the other hand, Precision Drilling Corporation (PDS) is an innovative, performance oriented, integrated oilfield drilling and energy service company. They are committed to providing technologically advanced equipment, and expertise, a safe operating environment, and quality service to the oil and gas and industrial businesses.
Under the new agreement, Precision will pay $1.12B in cash and 42M shares valued at $896.7M, based on Friday's closing stock price. The new offer involves less cash, but would give Grey Wolf shareholders a larger stake in the new company through an increased share offering. Though the combined price comes to nearly a dollar less than the $10 per-share that Precision had offered earlier, the deal gives Grey Wolf shareholders a 25% stake in the new company, which will be one of the biggest operators in North America. In the deal, Precision will also gain access to operations in practically every gas and oil basin in the U.S. and Canada, along with emerging markets in Mexico.
Precision Drilling is Canada's largest drilling contractor with a fleet of 240 service rigs and focuses primarily on oil and gas fields of western Canada. The combination also provides cohesiveness to secure greater cost advantages through the adoption of common operational support systems including procurement, maintenance, and enterprise wide information systems. Although the closure of the deal has not yet been set between the two companies, a proxy statement will be delivered to Grey Wolf shareholders by the end of the 3Q and is subject to approval by shareholders and regulatory acceptance.
On an operational basis, Precision would become one of the largest land drillers in North America with a combined fleet of 371 drilling rigs following the acquisition. The combined unit would also provide 229 service rigs, camp and catering, rig manufacturing and repair, snubbing, rentals, wastewater treatment and a turnkey drilling business. On paper, the combined revenues were $1.8B for the past year ending in June.
By the close of Monday’s trading session, shares of Grey Wolf were down by the conclusion, lower by $0.11, or 1.3%, to end at $8.48 per share, while shares of Precision Drilling were down even more, lower by $1.17, or 5.5%, to $20.18 per share. Over the past 52-weeks, shares of GW have traded in a range between $4.85 and $9.65, while shares of PDS have been trading between $14.91 and $28.59 per share.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
BetterTrades looks at LKQ Corporation - August 19, 2008
LKQ Corporation (LKQX), together with its subsidiaries, provides replacement systems, components, and parts to repair light vehicles, primarily cars and light trucks, in the U.S. The company provides recycled original equipment manufacturer products and related services, as well as aftermarket collision replacement products and refurbished bumper covers and wheels. The company's products include engines, vehicle front end assemblies, doors, transmissions, trunk lids, bumper assemblies, wheels, head and tail lamp assemblies, mirrors, fenders, and axles; and aftermarket products, such as head lamps, tail lamps, grilles, hoods, mirrors, bumpers, bumper covers, and fenders, as well as paint and related repair materials.
Early Tuesday morning, recent news regarding LKQ was released in which an analyst from Morgan Keegan reiterated their stance on an “outperform” rating in response to the company announcing yesterday that LKQ has plans to acquire auto recycler Pick-Your-Part Auto Wrecking Co. for nearly $73M. The proposed acquisition will provide LKQ the resources to enter into the California recycling business along with current projections that the purchase of the company will produce an additional $100M in revenues for the upcoming fiscal year.
The recent purchase announcement comes on the heels of the company posting outstanding results for the company’s 2Q performance, released on the last day of July. In the company’s report, LKQ recorded earnings of $31M, or $0.22 per share, more than double the previous year’s earnings of $14M, or $0.12 per share. Revenues for their quarter totaled $484.4M, up an astonishing 107% from $233.3M a year ago. The jump in overall sales was directly attributed to increased revenues from its recycling division which viewed increases of 23%, to $159.4M, along with their aftermarket sales increasing four-fold to $241.2M. Analysts, in the meantime, were anticipating that the company post earnings of $0.18 per share on $466.1M in total revenues.
As a relatively new company to the publicly traded scene, LKQ had its IPO in 2003, the company possesses a strong ability to grow from within, but much of their success comes from the process of purchasing smaller competitors. Since their initial offering, LKQ has made over some 30 acquisitions which have increased their market share along with expanding their inventory and their delivery process. Over those past five years, the company has posted profitability figures of year-over-year growth, on average, of 55% and is projected that the company continues its growth between 25% and 30% in the coming years.
With so much going for the company, LKQ also confirmed earlier today that the company is raising their full-year outlook based in large part to their stellar earnings release. Looking ahead, LKQ is now projecting that the company will earn anywhere between $0.85 and $0.88 per share, which equates to approximately $120M to $124M in net income. Prior expectations, released in May had the company projecting earnings of $0.75 to $0.79 per share and net profit coming in around $106M to $111M. Analysts, for the full-year are expecting earnings of $0.78 per share. By the conclusion of today’s trading session, shares of LKQ were down slightly, giving back $0.36, or 1.8%, to close out the day at $19.96 per share.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Early Tuesday morning, recent news regarding LKQ was released in which an analyst from Morgan Keegan reiterated their stance on an “outperform” rating in response to the company announcing yesterday that LKQ has plans to acquire auto recycler Pick-Your-Part Auto Wrecking Co. for nearly $73M. The proposed acquisition will provide LKQ the resources to enter into the California recycling business along with current projections that the purchase of the company will produce an additional $100M in revenues for the upcoming fiscal year.
The recent purchase announcement comes on the heels of the company posting outstanding results for the company’s 2Q performance, released on the last day of July. In the company’s report, LKQ recorded earnings of $31M, or $0.22 per share, more than double the previous year’s earnings of $14M, or $0.12 per share. Revenues for their quarter totaled $484.4M, up an astonishing 107% from $233.3M a year ago. The jump in overall sales was directly attributed to increased revenues from its recycling division which viewed increases of 23%, to $159.4M, along with their aftermarket sales increasing four-fold to $241.2M. Analysts, in the meantime, were anticipating that the company post earnings of $0.18 per share on $466.1M in total revenues.
As a relatively new company to the publicly traded scene, LKQ had its IPO in 2003, the company possesses a strong ability to grow from within, but much of their success comes from the process of purchasing smaller competitors. Since their initial offering, LKQ has made over some 30 acquisitions which have increased their market share along with expanding their inventory and their delivery process. Over those past five years, the company has posted profitability figures of year-over-year growth, on average, of 55% and is projected that the company continues its growth between 25% and 30% in the coming years.
With so much going for the company, LKQ also confirmed earlier today that the company is raising their full-year outlook based in large part to their stellar earnings release. Looking ahead, LKQ is now projecting that the company will earn anywhere between $0.85 and $0.88 per share, which equates to approximately $120M to $124M in net income. Prior expectations, released in May had the company projecting earnings of $0.75 to $0.79 per share and net profit coming in around $106M to $111M. Analysts, for the full-year are expecting earnings of $0.78 per share. By the conclusion of today’s trading session, shares of LKQ were down slightly, giving back $0.36, or 1.8%, to close out the day at $19.96 per share.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Monday, August 18, 2008
BetterTrades looks at Trina Solar Ltd. - August 18, 2008
Trina Solar LTD. (TSL), which is currently one of the few private manufacturers which has developed a vertically integrated business model from the production of monocrystalline ingots, wafers and cells to the assembly of high quality modules, announced early this morning that the company’s 2Q earnings advanced on the heels of higher overall sales and increased margins. For the recent period, Trina Solar posted profits of $17.1M, or $0.68 per share, up from $7.4M, or $0.32 per share from a year ago. Today’s release stated that profits increased more than 130% year-over-year. Revenues, meanwhile, almost tripled from last year’s results, coming in at $204.2M, up from $75.3M.
With a most impressive earnings result, the company has further increased their expectations for full-year revenues as the company sees total sales ranging from $850M to $900M, up from earlier predictions of $770M to $808M. Despite the company posting a solid earnings report and upping their full-year outlook, investors looked upon the news differently, sending the shares lower by $0.84, or 2.7%, to close at $30.14.
During their recent quarter, the company released information pertaining to them producing more solar modules for the quarter than during the same quarter last year. For the current period, Trina shipped modules totaling some 47.6MW of power, more than twice last year’s production. According the U.S. Department of Energy, a 1-Megawatt running at full capacity can generate enough power for 778 homes per year.
In addition, the company also stated in their earnings report, that the company’s profit margin increased year-over-year. For the recent quarter, Trina’s profit margin surged from 10.7% last year, to their current reading of 14.3% in which the company cited higher results due to improvements to their vertical integration due in large part to the company making their own solar panels and not outsourcing any of their production steps.
Looking ahead, the company sees a bright, and energy efficient, future ahead in that they have already secured contract for 95% of the company’s module production, and with lower costs finalized through long-term supply contracts, Trina is expecting gross margins for fiscal 2009 to increase substantially. For the remainder of 2008, the company is looking at gross margins to come in around 23% to 25%, unchanged from earlier predictions.
Trina’s current market which has grown exponentially over the past few years has begun to gain market entry into other countries as well. For instance, Trina has previously breached the markets in Germany and Spain and most recently, Belgium and Italy. Many energy experts are forecasting that Trina’s presence in Italy, in which they already possess a 26% market share, could become even greater and could rival the solar markets found in Spain. What’s more, Trina also has gained permission to sell their products in the U.S., which lead the company, most think, to change their operating currency to the Dollar.
If TSL management can do as well on their communications as they have done on the operational side of the business, this company will cease to trade at a P/E discount, which currently is at 6.85 for their Forward P/E, providing significant upside with some real value to be seen in the not too distant future. If the stock begins to turn heads, and with a projected 2009 earnings above $5 a share, some analysts are looking for the stock to trade well into the $70 range and possibly above.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
With a most impressive earnings result, the company has further increased their expectations for full-year revenues as the company sees total sales ranging from $850M to $900M, up from earlier predictions of $770M to $808M. Despite the company posting a solid earnings report and upping their full-year outlook, investors looked upon the news differently, sending the shares lower by $0.84, or 2.7%, to close at $30.14.
During their recent quarter, the company released information pertaining to them producing more solar modules for the quarter than during the same quarter last year. For the current period, Trina shipped modules totaling some 47.6MW of power, more than twice last year’s production. According the U.S. Department of Energy, a 1-Megawatt running at full capacity can generate enough power for 778 homes per year.
In addition, the company also stated in their earnings report, that the company’s profit margin increased year-over-year. For the recent quarter, Trina’s profit margin surged from 10.7% last year, to their current reading of 14.3% in which the company cited higher results due to improvements to their vertical integration due in large part to the company making their own solar panels and not outsourcing any of their production steps.
Looking ahead, the company sees a bright, and energy efficient, future ahead in that they have already secured contract for 95% of the company’s module production, and with lower costs finalized through long-term supply contracts, Trina is expecting gross margins for fiscal 2009 to increase substantially. For the remainder of 2008, the company is looking at gross margins to come in around 23% to 25%, unchanged from earlier predictions.
Trina’s current market which has grown exponentially over the past few years has begun to gain market entry into other countries as well. For instance, Trina has previously breached the markets in Germany and Spain and most recently, Belgium and Italy. Many energy experts are forecasting that Trina’s presence in Italy, in which they already possess a 26% market share, could become even greater and could rival the solar markets found in Spain. What’s more, Trina also has gained permission to sell their products in the U.S., which lead the company, most think, to change their operating currency to the Dollar.
If TSL management can do as well on their communications as they have done on the operational side of the business, this company will cease to trade at a P/E discount, which currently is at 6.85 for their Forward P/E, providing significant upside with some real value to be seen in the not too distant future. If the stock begins to turn heads, and with a projected 2009 earnings above $5 a share, some analysts are looking for the stock to trade well into the $70 range and possibly above.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
BetterTrades looks at AgFeed Industries Inc. - August 14, 2008
AgFeed Industries, Inc. (FEED), through its subsidiaries, engages in the research and development, manufacture, marketing, and sale of fodder and blended feed for use in the domestic animal husbandry markets in the People's Republic of China, announced earlier this week that the company posted their 2Q results in which profits surged by 160% for the recent period.
During the quarter, AgFeed recorded net income of $3.9M, or $0.12 per share, compared to last year’s numbers of $1.5M, or $0.06 per share. The company attributes the increase to better operating efficiencies which helped the firm offset higher commodity prices. In addition, the company posted revenues of $35.6M, up from the prior year’s $6.9M, a 416% increase. Meanwhile, analysts were projecting that AgFeed post earnings of $0.17 per share, based on revenues of $28.5M.
Based on the success of the recent quarter, the company also included in their release 2008 projections which the company is expecting earnings per share between $1.08 and $1.20 on revenues between $145M and $155M. Analysts are predicting that the company post yearly earnings of $0.95 per share on $136.9M in total sales. The firm also upped its fiscal 2009 revenue forecast to $175.2M from $169.2M, with an earnings per share estimate of $1.40, up from $1.35.
Analysts, meanwhile, have a very positive outlook for the company. The Maxim Group, late last month, reiterated its "buy" rating and $26 target price on AgFeed shares, while boosting its fiscal 2008 revenue and EPS estimates to $132.8M from $130.5M and $1.02 from $1, respectively. The firm also upped its fiscal 2009 revenue forecast to $175.2M from $169.2M, with an EPS estimate of $1.40, bumped up from $1.35.
As the Chinese economy continues to increase exponentially, so does the need for agricultural advancements. With roughly over 1.3B people throughout China, the agriculture sector accounts for nearly 14% of China’s overall GDP, while estimated that it grows about 8% year-over-year. While the country continues to expand and more and more people are becoming more prosperous, agricultural needs are outweighing production. One of the biggest industries for agricultural products is the pork markets. It is estimated that the hog industry is valued at $32B annually. Within China, there is a current hog population which ranges between 500M and 600M pigs and the nation’s appetite for them is outpacing supply.
The animal feed industry, in which AgFeed is a leader in, was valued at nearly $40B in 2006, and is expected to increase to $50B by 2010. In recent results, the company produced some 53K metric tons of feed last year which amounted to almost 85% of the company’s total revenues. The company sells their products through 550 wholesalers and 630 retail stores throughout the country. These numbers are sure to increase due to the projected increase in pork consumption as many more people are moving from rural areas to more urban sections.
Fundamentally speaking, the company is as strong as any within the feed business, locally and worldwide. On an earnings per share basis, company currently grows quarterly earnings year-over-year by almost 170%, and revenues increase by 417% on average, year-over-year. On their books, there is very little debt, an operating margin over 20%, and a profit margin just under 13%. But the company does come with some risk, as the stock currently is trading at a 39.81 P/E Ratio, but with an increased stock value of nearly 94% over the past twelve months, and tremendous revenues and earnings growth, the company has only the skies as their limit.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
During the quarter, AgFeed recorded net income of $3.9M, or $0.12 per share, compared to last year’s numbers of $1.5M, or $0.06 per share. The company attributes the increase to better operating efficiencies which helped the firm offset higher commodity prices. In addition, the company posted revenues of $35.6M, up from the prior year’s $6.9M, a 416% increase. Meanwhile, analysts were projecting that AgFeed post earnings of $0.17 per share, based on revenues of $28.5M.
Based on the success of the recent quarter, the company also included in their release 2008 projections which the company is expecting earnings per share between $1.08 and $1.20 on revenues between $145M and $155M. Analysts are predicting that the company post yearly earnings of $0.95 per share on $136.9M in total sales. The firm also upped its fiscal 2009 revenue forecast to $175.2M from $169.2M, with an earnings per share estimate of $1.40, up from $1.35.
Analysts, meanwhile, have a very positive outlook for the company. The Maxim Group, late last month, reiterated its "buy" rating and $26 target price on AgFeed shares, while boosting its fiscal 2008 revenue and EPS estimates to $132.8M from $130.5M and $1.02 from $1, respectively. The firm also upped its fiscal 2009 revenue forecast to $175.2M from $169.2M, with an EPS estimate of $1.40, bumped up from $1.35.
As the Chinese economy continues to increase exponentially, so does the need for agricultural advancements. With roughly over 1.3B people throughout China, the agriculture sector accounts for nearly 14% of China’s overall GDP, while estimated that it grows about 8% year-over-year. While the country continues to expand and more and more people are becoming more prosperous, agricultural needs are outweighing production. One of the biggest industries for agricultural products is the pork markets. It is estimated that the hog industry is valued at $32B annually. Within China, there is a current hog population which ranges between 500M and 600M pigs and the nation’s appetite for them is outpacing supply.
The animal feed industry, in which AgFeed is a leader in, was valued at nearly $40B in 2006, and is expected to increase to $50B by 2010. In recent results, the company produced some 53K metric tons of feed last year which amounted to almost 85% of the company’s total revenues. The company sells their products through 550 wholesalers and 630 retail stores throughout the country. These numbers are sure to increase due to the projected increase in pork consumption as many more people are moving from rural areas to more urban sections.
Fundamentally speaking, the company is as strong as any within the feed business, locally and worldwide. On an earnings per share basis, company currently grows quarterly earnings year-over-year by almost 170%, and revenues increase by 417% on average, year-over-year. On their books, there is very little debt, an operating margin over 20%, and a profit margin just under 13%. But the company does come with some risk, as the stock currently is trading at a 39.81 P/E Ratio, but with an increased stock value of nearly 94% over the past twelve months, and tremendous revenues and earnings growth, the company has only the skies as their limit.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
BetterTrades looks at Fluor Corporation - August 12, 2008
Fluor Corporation, (FLR), is a holding company that provides services on a global basis in the fields of engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, operations, project management and business services. These services are grouped into three operating segments: Fluor Daniel, Fluor Global Services and Fluor Signature Services. The Fluor Daniel segment consists of four business units: Energy; Chemicals; Manufacturing; Life Sciences; Mining; and Infrastructure.
Yesterday, after the markets closed, the diverse company released news of the results for the company’s 2Q. During which time, Fluor recorded profits of $209.3M, or $1.13 per share, compared to last year’s results of $95.6M, or $0.53 per share. That equates to nearly 119% increase in earnings year-over-year. Revenues, meanwhile, surged as well, increasing more than 37% year-over-year, from $4.22B to $5.77B. Current results were directly attributed to the company posting a one-time tax gain of $79M from a sale which added $0.26 per share to the final numbers. Analysts, for the recent period, were anticipating earnings to come in at $0.82 per share, on total revenues of $5.18B.
The most significant increases that the company incurred were the stellar quarterly performances within two of their business segments. In their Oil & Gas business, Fluor’s revenues rocketed ahead by nearly 56% to $3.3B, along with the company’s Power segment, which saw sales surge more than 86% to $522M. The other two remaining segments, Industrial & Infrastructure and their Global Services, both units saw gains but not as nearly as much as the aforementioned ones. The final two posted gains of 4% and 16% respectfully.
Over the past year or so, engineering and construction companies have had incredible runs within the markets, and Fluor is no exception. Dating back to this time last year, the company’s stock has increased in market value slightly over 50%, and was coming off its 52-week high of $202 just before the company offered a 2:1 split in mid-July. By the end of the 1Q, Fluor had an impressive backlog which, at the time, totaled nearly $32B. Regarding its backlog, 65% is Oil & Gas, 18% Infrastructure, 8% Global Services, 7% Power and 2% Government, with 46% of their backlogs coming from within the U.S, 40% in Europe, 9% from Asia, and 5% coming from North & South America. Since the beginning of the year, the company has received 54% of its revenue from Oil & Gas, Infrastructure was 16% of its business, Global Services was 15%, Power was 9%, and government was 6%.
Much of the possible upcoming success for the company will lay with the company’s Oil & Gas segment, as that seems to be at the forefront of investors’ minds these days. These days, the company has stepped up efforts to increase production throughout the Middle East, along with the constant talks that involve the construction, or at least upgrades, of refineries within the U.S., which would lead to more business for the company.
Fundamentally, the company leads the pack within their industry. Earnings seem to be the first thing that jumps out at you about the company. Since 2003, earnings per share have increased dramatically, from $1.95 in ’03, to $5.85 per share in 2007, and current earnings, trailing twelve months, is at $3.204, which is adjusted for the recent stock split, otherwise, it would be at $6.408 without the split. Other impressive numbers include, free cash flows of $759M, a trailing P/E Ratio of 21.53, while the forward P/E is 17.51, and the company boasts a PEG Ratio of 1.39, slightly above the industry average of 1.35. With very little debt on their books, the company has also been able to manage a Return on Equity (ROE) of 28.17%, almost 5% higher than the industry average.
Due to the company’s overwhelming success of their recent earnings release, the company also provided guidance for their full-year figures for fiscal 2008. In their statement, Fluor officials stated that the company now expects profits to be in the range between $3.65 and $3.80 per share, up from previous forecasts of $3.30 to $3.45 per share. In addition, analysts are forecasting that Fluor’s profits come in at $3.29 per share, well below the company’s expectations. After the release of the company’s current standing, shares surged after market, gaining nearly 6%, or $4.48 at $80.66. However, today’s trading session saw different results as shares of Fluor slipped 6% by the close, dropping $4.54 to close out the day at $71.64.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Yesterday, after the markets closed, the diverse company released news of the results for the company’s 2Q. During which time, Fluor recorded profits of $209.3M, or $1.13 per share, compared to last year’s results of $95.6M, or $0.53 per share. That equates to nearly 119% increase in earnings year-over-year. Revenues, meanwhile, surged as well, increasing more than 37% year-over-year, from $4.22B to $5.77B. Current results were directly attributed to the company posting a one-time tax gain of $79M from a sale which added $0.26 per share to the final numbers. Analysts, for the recent period, were anticipating earnings to come in at $0.82 per share, on total revenues of $5.18B.
The most significant increases that the company incurred were the stellar quarterly performances within two of their business segments. In their Oil & Gas business, Fluor’s revenues rocketed ahead by nearly 56% to $3.3B, along with the company’s Power segment, which saw sales surge more than 86% to $522M. The other two remaining segments, Industrial & Infrastructure and their Global Services, both units saw gains but not as nearly as much as the aforementioned ones. The final two posted gains of 4% and 16% respectfully.
Over the past year or so, engineering and construction companies have had incredible runs within the markets, and Fluor is no exception. Dating back to this time last year, the company’s stock has increased in market value slightly over 50%, and was coming off its 52-week high of $202 just before the company offered a 2:1 split in mid-July. By the end of the 1Q, Fluor had an impressive backlog which, at the time, totaled nearly $32B. Regarding its backlog, 65% is Oil & Gas, 18% Infrastructure, 8% Global Services, 7% Power and 2% Government, with 46% of their backlogs coming from within the U.S, 40% in Europe, 9% from Asia, and 5% coming from North & South America. Since the beginning of the year, the company has received 54% of its revenue from Oil & Gas, Infrastructure was 16% of its business, Global Services was 15%, Power was 9%, and government was 6%.
Much of the possible upcoming success for the company will lay with the company’s Oil & Gas segment, as that seems to be at the forefront of investors’ minds these days. These days, the company has stepped up efforts to increase production throughout the Middle East, along with the constant talks that involve the construction, or at least upgrades, of refineries within the U.S., which would lead to more business for the company.
Fundamentally, the company leads the pack within their industry. Earnings seem to be the first thing that jumps out at you about the company. Since 2003, earnings per share have increased dramatically, from $1.95 in ’03, to $5.85 per share in 2007, and current earnings, trailing twelve months, is at $3.204, which is adjusted for the recent stock split, otherwise, it would be at $6.408 without the split. Other impressive numbers include, free cash flows of $759M, a trailing P/E Ratio of 21.53, while the forward P/E is 17.51, and the company boasts a PEG Ratio of 1.39, slightly above the industry average of 1.35. With very little debt on their books, the company has also been able to manage a Return on Equity (ROE) of 28.17%, almost 5% higher than the industry average.
Due to the company’s overwhelming success of their recent earnings release, the company also provided guidance for their full-year figures for fiscal 2008. In their statement, Fluor officials stated that the company now expects profits to be in the range between $3.65 and $3.80 per share, up from previous forecasts of $3.30 to $3.45 per share. In addition, analysts are forecasting that Fluor’s profits come in at $3.29 per share, well below the company’s expectations. After the release of the company’s current standing, shares surged after market, gaining nearly 6%, or $4.48 at $80.66. However, today’s trading session saw different results as shares of Fluor slipped 6% by the close, dropping $4.54 to close out the day at $71.64.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Monday, August 11, 2008
BetterTrades looks at Sysco Corporation - August 11, 2008
Sysco Corporation, (SYY), the largest North American distributor of food and food related products to the foodservice or `food-prepared-away-from-home` industry which provides its products and services to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other foodservice customers, affirmed earlier today that the company’s profits increased year-over year, due to an increase in sales along with better management of overall costs.
For the 4Q, Sysco posted net income of $334.1M, or $0.55 per share, up just over 10%, from $303.4M, or $0.49 per share a year ago. Additionally, revenues for Sysco advanced from $9.23B, to $9.73B, a 5% jump. For the quarter, market analysts were projecting that the company post earnings of $0.52 per share, on $9.87B in total revenues. The company also released information regarding their full-year performance, in which the company recorded net income of $1.1B, or $1.81 per share, beating last year’s 4Q figures of $1B or $1.60 per share. Revenues for the entire year totaled $37.52B, up 7% from $35.04B the year before.
Within this industry, there are many pressures that Sysco is facing, due to the current state of the economy. The biggest factor the company incurs is that of consumers eating out less, which hurts the company’s bottom-line as sales will decrease to restaurants that aren’t doing as much business as they would in a booming, or at least a steady one. With the restaurants requiring fewer inventories due to a slowdown of business, grocery stores are now upping their prices, which in turn, restrict the consumers from discretionary spending at their neighborhood eatery. As the grocer continues to increase their prices, many customers tend to flock to wholesale retailers for their mass purchases in order to find the best deals for their current food purchases.
So what does this mean for Sysco’s future? Well, the good news is that, while they are a diversified food distributor, the company will still see greater margin pressures then they normally would, had the economy not been slumping, but will still be able to maintain profitability. The greatest pressures will be thrust upon the upscale restaurants and high-end grocers which will see traffic throughout their establishments to decline steadily.
Sysco has been around for nearly 40 years, so bet on the company’s management to guide them through these tough times. As an example, despite the current market conditions, Sysco has been an impressive company in that over the past eight years, they have been able to manage, on average, nearly 28% rate of return on equity (ROE). Currently, Sysco boasts a ROE of 32.5%, along with a ROA, return on assets, of nearly 12%. Within their industry, Sysco has a hold of some 15% of the market share for food distribution. Also, two of Sysco’s largest competitors, U.S. Foodservice and Performance Foods, were both recently acquired by private equity firms, mainly looking for a way to reduce their operating costs and possibly sell those companies for a profit. This in turn, could lead Sysco to greater market share over the next several years.
The one thing that has management the most concerned is how, in the near and distant future, will the rising price of fuel affect the company’s profitability? Although the price has eased a bit over the past few weeks or so, it still has a daunting affect on the bottom-line, but then again it has the same effect on their competitors as well. But with that, this entails that Sysco will simply pass the cost on, and could have an adverse reaction to total sales overall.
In Monday's trading session, Sysco finished the session at $31.15, up $1.28 or 4.3% on a volume of 7.38 million shares. In the past 52-weeks, the stock has been trading in a range of $26.45 to $35.90.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
For the 4Q, Sysco posted net income of $334.1M, or $0.55 per share, up just over 10%, from $303.4M, or $0.49 per share a year ago. Additionally, revenues for Sysco advanced from $9.23B, to $9.73B, a 5% jump. For the quarter, market analysts were projecting that the company post earnings of $0.52 per share, on $9.87B in total revenues. The company also released information regarding their full-year performance, in which the company recorded net income of $1.1B, or $1.81 per share, beating last year’s 4Q figures of $1B or $1.60 per share. Revenues for the entire year totaled $37.52B, up 7% from $35.04B the year before.
Within this industry, there are many pressures that Sysco is facing, due to the current state of the economy. The biggest factor the company incurs is that of consumers eating out less, which hurts the company’s bottom-line as sales will decrease to restaurants that aren’t doing as much business as they would in a booming, or at least a steady one. With the restaurants requiring fewer inventories due to a slowdown of business, grocery stores are now upping their prices, which in turn, restrict the consumers from discretionary spending at their neighborhood eatery. As the grocer continues to increase their prices, many customers tend to flock to wholesale retailers for their mass purchases in order to find the best deals for their current food purchases.
So what does this mean for Sysco’s future? Well, the good news is that, while they are a diversified food distributor, the company will still see greater margin pressures then they normally would, had the economy not been slumping, but will still be able to maintain profitability. The greatest pressures will be thrust upon the upscale restaurants and high-end grocers which will see traffic throughout their establishments to decline steadily.
Sysco has been around for nearly 40 years, so bet on the company’s management to guide them through these tough times. As an example, despite the current market conditions, Sysco has been an impressive company in that over the past eight years, they have been able to manage, on average, nearly 28% rate of return on equity (ROE). Currently, Sysco boasts a ROE of 32.5%, along with a ROA, return on assets, of nearly 12%. Within their industry, Sysco has a hold of some 15% of the market share for food distribution. Also, two of Sysco’s largest competitors, U.S. Foodservice and Performance Foods, were both recently acquired by private equity firms, mainly looking for a way to reduce their operating costs and possibly sell those companies for a profit. This in turn, could lead Sysco to greater market share over the next several years.
The one thing that has management the most concerned is how, in the near and distant future, will the rising price of fuel affect the company’s profitability? Although the price has eased a bit over the past few weeks or so, it still has a daunting affect on the bottom-line, but then again it has the same effect on their competitors as well. But with that, this entails that Sysco will simply pass the cost on, and could have an adverse reaction to total sales overall.
In Monday's trading session, Sysco finished the session at $31.15, up $1.28 or 4.3% on a volume of 7.38 million shares. In the past 52-weeks, the stock has been trading in a range of $26.45 to $35.90.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Friday, August 08, 2008
BetterTrades looks at Affiliated Computer Services Inc. - August 8, 2008
Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (ACS), which provides a full range of information technology services to clients which have time-critical, transaction-intensive information processing needs, made it known after the markets close on Thursday that the company’s 4Q profit increased more than 50% on the acquisition of more technology projects for government and business agencies. For the recent period, Affiliated Computer Services posted earnings of $98.6M, or $1.01 per share, as compared to a profit of $37.6M, or $0.37 per share from last year’s 4Q. Much of the discrepancy in the year-over-year numbers was attributed to a $76M charge for a cancelled account which pertained to the Department of Education.
Revenues during the current quarter, were booked at $1.61B, a 6% increase from last year’s figures but were also more than $10M less than what analysts were anticipating along with expectations of earnings of $0.93 per share. Based on recent events, ACS also provided guidance for the upcoming year, fiscal 2009, wherein the company is expecting earnings growth of approximately 10%, and revenue growth of 6% to 7%. For all of 2008, the company managed to earn $3.92 per share on total sales of $6.64B.
ACS services include technology outsourcing, business process outsourcing and systems integration services and as the company continues to see consistent and steady growth, the stock has the potential to eclipse their 52-week trading high of $57.40, set back in the early part of May. With much of the company’ revenues, 85%, coming from returning, long-standing contracts, ACS can continue to receive additional government and municipal deals in which they are already involved in.
Fundamentally, the company posts some solid numbers. For this investors that look to the P/E Ratio as a leading indicator, ACS boasts an 18.3 trailing P/E, which is in the upper half of their historical P/E range of 11 to 23. But one of the more telling sign of a strong company is the ability to grow their earnings. In this category, ACS has managed, on average over the past six quarters, to increase EPS by nearly 11%. At the same time, the company has been able to grow earnings at an 8% clip over the past eight months. Albeit that theses numbers aren’t over the top, but they are slightly above industry averages thus leading this company to be a potentially lucrative growth stock.
One of the few negatives for the company has to be their Debt-to-Equity Ratio, which currently stands at 1.124. But with a current Price/Cash Flow Ratio of $7.20, you can’t overlook the money that ACS generates from their business model. And within that model, during their recent quarter, ACS recorded commercial signings which represented 75% of new business signings while government contracts added 25%. In addition, business process outsourcing contributed 82% of new business signings while 18% of revenues came from information technology outsourcing.
“The 4Q of fiscal 2008 was the culmination of an excellent year. We signed the most new business in our history while ending the year with the largest new business pipeline that we have ever pursued. I am very pleased with our success in sales because I believe we are well positioned to accelerate internal revenue growth in fiscal 2009," said Lynn Blodgett, ACS' president and chief executive officer. "Our adjusted earnings per share were the highest in our history and the record amount of cash flow we generated in fiscal 2008 is evidence of the strength of our earnings. We continued to fortify our vertical markets by developing innovative new solutions and by completing seven acquisitions that added new vertical capabilities and geographic reach.” At the close of Friday’s trading session, shares of Affiliated Computer Services gained nearly 4%, adding $1.81 to close the week at $51.01 per share.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Revenues during the current quarter, were booked at $1.61B, a 6% increase from last year’s figures but were also more than $10M less than what analysts were anticipating along with expectations of earnings of $0.93 per share. Based on recent events, ACS also provided guidance for the upcoming year, fiscal 2009, wherein the company is expecting earnings growth of approximately 10%, and revenue growth of 6% to 7%. For all of 2008, the company managed to earn $3.92 per share on total sales of $6.64B.
ACS services include technology outsourcing, business process outsourcing and systems integration services and as the company continues to see consistent and steady growth, the stock has the potential to eclipse their 52-week trading high of $57.40, set back in the early part of May. With much of the company’ revenues, 85%, coming from returning, long-standing contracts, ACS can continue to receive additional government and municipal deals in which they are already involved in.
Fundamentally, the company posts some solid numbers. For this investors that look to the P/E Ratio as a leading indicator, ACS boasts an 18.3 trailing P/E, which is in the upper half of their historical P/E range of 11 to 23. But one of the more telling sign of a strong company is the ability to grow their earnings. In this category, ACS has managed, on average over the past six quarters, to increase EPS by nearly 11%. At the same time, the company has been able to grow earnings at an 8% clip over the past eight months. Albeit that theses numbers aren’t over the top, but they are slightly above industry averages thus leading this company to be a potentially lucrative growth stock.
One of the few negatives for the company has to be their Debt-to-Equity Ratio, which currently stands at 1.124. But with a current Price/Cash Flow Ratio of $7.20, you can’t overlook the money that ACS generates from their business model. And within that model, during their recent quarter, ACS recorded commercial signings which represented 75% of new business signings while government contracts added 25%. In addition, business process outsourcing contributed 82% of new business signings while 18% of revenues came from information technology outsourcing.
“The 4Q of fiscal 2008 was the culmination of an excellent year. We signed the most new business in our history while ending the year with the largest new business pipeline that we have ever pursued. I am very pleased with our success in sales because I believe we are well positioned to accelerate internal revenue growth in fiscal 2009," said Lynn Blodgett, ACS' president and chief executive officer. "Our adjusted earnings per share were the highest in our history and the record amount of cash flow we generated in fiscal 2008 is evidence of the strength of our earnings. We continued to fortify our vertical markets by developing innovative new solutions and by completing seven acquisitions that added new vertical capabilities and geographic reach.” At the close of Friday’s trading session, shares of Affiliated Computer Services gained nearly 4%, adding $1.81 to close the week at $51.01 per share.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
BetterTrades looks at Parexel International Corp. - August 7, 2008
Parexel International Corporation (PRXL) is one of the largest biopharmaceutical outsourcing organizations in the world, providing a broad range of knowledge-based contract research, medical marketing and consulting services to the worldwide pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. With a commitment to providing solutions that expedite time-to-market and peak market penetration, Parexel has developed significant expertise in clinical trials management, data management, bio-statistical analysis, medical marketing, clinical pharmacology, regulatory and medical consulting, industry training and publishing and other drug development consulting services.
Just this past week, the company announced results from their 4Q in which the firm posted net income of $25M, or $0.43 per share, a 140% increase from the prior year’s results of $10.4M, or $0.18 per share. Additionally, operating income came in at $26.9M, up from $16.9M a year ago, and total revenues increased nearly 33%, from $205.2M, to $272.2M. Current results did, however, include a positive net tax adjustment of $8.7M, and taking that into account, net income would have truly been stated at $16.3M and earnings per share would have been at $0.28. Those figures were still more than 55% greater than last year’s 4Q. In today’s trading session, shares of PRXL surged higher on the heels of their earnings release, as the stock gained $3.62, or 12.5%, to close at $32.64.
From a fundamental stand point, Parexel looks to be a solid player within their industry. Case in point, over the past several years, PRXL has been able to post solid earnings growth dating back to 2002. The ability to grow earnings is a key for a growth stock, which PRXL appears to be. Analysts who follow the company, are projecting that the stock with continue to grow earnings on an average of 26.5% over the next two years. And while the company’s operating margins are relatively low at 7%, there are, however, higher than the industry average along with their Return on Equity (ROE) being a much more respectable 14%.
Other advantages that the company possesses over their competition is that they have very little debt, over $113M in free cash, and over the past twelve months, Parexel’s stock has outperformed the S&P 500, the benchmark, by gaining more than 36% in value, while the S&P has a negative 14% in growth. This in turn has translated into the company being able to boast a nearly $2B in market capitalization.
The biggest attribute the company has is that as a contract research organization, the bigger biotech and pharmaceutical makers are looking to feverishly cut costs thus sending their business to outsourcers to perform clinical and preclinical trials. The beauty of this setup is that while outsourcing, the companies take on no risk from FDA approval and have to pay out no government reimbursement fees.
In regards to Standard & Poor’s, the company recently released its findings on midsized companies that they believe to have the “highest growth characteristics.” The companies, which included Parexel, are broken down into nine different divisions and are examined based on price gains, sales growth, earnings growth and employee growth over the past three years, and must have a market cap between $1B and $5B.
In closing, the company also issued forward-looking guidance for the 1Q of 2009 along with updating their guidance for all of 2009. Parexel now expects to report revenues for the 1Q in the range of $260M to $270M, and earnings per share in the range of $0.23 to $0.25. For the entire year of 2009, revenues are expected to be in the range of $1.125B to $1.155B and earnings per share are projected to be in the range of $1.15 to $1.25. These numbers are compared to previously issued revenue guidance for 2009 of $1.110B to $1.140B, and earnings per share of $1.10 to $1.20.
The above figures did exclude Parexel’s recent purchase of England-based ClinPhone PLC which provides software and services to help companies track data from clinical trials and select test participants. The purchase, costing $300M, was announced in early June, should be finalized during the 1Q of fiscal 2009. So, while Parexel can offer both diversity of services and geography, the company can provide a price advantage to their customers along with the opportunity to reach more patients throughout their clinical and preclinical trials.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Just this past week, the company announced results from their 4Q in which the firm posted net income of $25M, or $0.43 per share, a 140% increase from the prior year’s results of $10.4M, or $0.18 per share. Additionally, operating income came in at $26.9M, up from $16.9M a year ago, and total revenues increased nearly 33%, from $205.2M, to $272.2M. Current results did, however, include a positive net tax adjustment of $8.7M, and taking that into account, net income would have truly been stated at $16.3M and earnings per share would have been at $0.28. Those figures were still more than 55% greater than last year’s 4Q. In today’s trading session, shares of PRXL surged higher on the heels of their earnings release, as the stock gained $3.62, or 12.5%, to close at $32.64.
From a fundamental stand point, Parexel looks to be a solid player within their industry. Case in point, over the past several years, PRXL has been able to post solid earnings growth dating back to 2002. The ability to grow earnings is a key for a growth stock, which PRXL appears to be. Analysts who follow the company, are projecting that the stock with continue to grow earnings on an average of 26.5% over the next two years. And while the company’s operating margins are relatively low at 7%, there are, however, higher than the industry average along with their Return on Equity (ROE) being a much more respectable 14%.
Other advantages that the company possesses over their competition is that they have very little debt, over $113M in free cash, and over the past twelve months, Parexel’s stock has outperformed the S&P 500, the benchmark, by gaining more than 36% in value, while the S&P has a negative 14% in growth. This in turn has translated into the company being able to boast a nearly $2B in market capitalization.
The biggest attribute the company has is that as a contract research organization, the bigger biotech and pharmaceutical makers are looking to feverishly cut costs thus sending their business to outsourcers to perform clinical and preclinical trials. The beauty of this setup is that while outsourcing, the companies take on no risk from FDA approval and have to pay out no government reimbursement fees.
In regards to Standard & Poor’s, the company recently released its findings on midsized companies that they believe to have the “highest growth characteristics.” The companies, which included Parexel, are broken down into nine different divisions and are examined based on price gains, sales growth, earnings growth and employee growth over the past three years, and must have a market cap between $1B and $5B.
In closing, the company also issued forward-looking guidance for the 1Q of 2009 along with updating their guidance for all of 2009. Parexel now expects to report revenues for the 1Q in the range of $260M to $270M, and earnings per share in the range of $0.23 to $0.25. For the entire year of 2009, revenues are expected to be in the range of $1.125B to $1.155B and earnings per share are projected to be in the range of $1.15 to $1.25. These numbers are compared to previously issued revenue guidance for 2009 of $1.110B to $1.140B, and earnings per share of $1.10 to $1.20.
The above figures did exclude Parexel’s recent purchase of England-based ClinPhone PLC which provides software and services to help companies track data from clinical trials and select test participants. The purchase, costing $300M, was announced in early June, should be finalized during the 1Q of fiscal 2009. So, while Parexel can offer both diversity of services and geography, the company can provide a price advantage to their customers along with the opportunity to reach more patients throughout their clinical and preclinical trials.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
BetterTrades looks at Bidz.com Inc. - August 6, 2008
Bidz.com Inc. (BIDZ), which operates an online retailer of jewelry in the U.S. and worldwide, specializes in the selling of selling of merchandise while utilizing an online auction platform. With that being said, just recently, the company announced their 2Q results which were 24% higher than the same period last year. During the recent quarter BIDZ posted a profit of $3.6M, or $0.14 per share, versus a profit of $2.9M, or $0.12 per share a year ago. Over the same time frame, revenues for the company jumped from $39.1M to $55M, nearly a 41% increase year-over-year. All the while, analysts were projecting that BIDZ post earnings of $0.10 per share based on $49.4M in revenues.
The company’s product inventory includes gold, platinum, and silver jewelry sets with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and other precious and semi-precious stones, as well as rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and watches. Bidz.com also sells certified merchant merchandise, such as art, collectibles, and gift items. Headquartered in Culver City, California, the company was founded in 1998 and went public in July of 2007.
In lieu of the dreary overall market performance, year-to-date, Bidz.com has shown some promise during this time. In fact, over the past seven months or so, the stock has returned a 51% gain, from $7.23 a share n the first of the year, to its current trading price of $10.31 per share. Analysts appear to agree, as many feel that there is still a large market share out there for BIDZ to take hold of.
There have also been several important activities accomplished over the past quarter that Bidz.com can attribute to solid business savvy. In addition to the company repurchasing some $12M in stock t reduce the float, the company was recently added to the Russell 2000, while launching a Spanish version of its online auction site back in May. And last but not least, while the company managed to increase their international sales figures by nearly 56%, they also were able to pick up nearly $24M in finished jewelry from LID Ltd., one of the world’s leading manufacturers of diamond jewelry, in a bankruptcy auction.
“We are extremely pleased with our continued very strong financial performance, as well as the progress we have made in our key metrics, such as average selling price per order, average orders per day, average items sold per day, and number of new buyers, all of which have improved on a year over year basis,” said David Zinberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bidz.com. “Our core auction business continues to see significant organic and profitable growth, both domestically, and especially internationally. Additionally, we were able to successfully win a significant bankruptcy auction, and add some incremental B2B sales. We remain intensely committed to meeting our profit objectives.”
Furthermore, David Zinberg added, “There is still a tremendous opportunity for us to capture a larger share of the global jewelry market, which is expected to reach $213B worldwide by 2010. We have many initiatives in place for growth, including additional translations of our website into other languages and further development of our newer initiatives, such as Buyz.com, our online retail store. We believe that these new initiatives will provide a foundation for even stronger revenue and earnings growth once the economy begins to improve.”
Looking ahead, the company is projecting 3Q revenues between $55M and $58M and earnings per share of $0.10 or $0.11, while analysts are projecting earnings of $0.10 on $48.3M in sales. More importantly, the company projects full-year earnings higher than previously stated. BIDZ is now expecting full-year revenues to range between $240M and $245M, up from $225M to $230M, while posting earnings per share between $0.56 and $0.59, and had previously announced EPS between $0.52 and $0.55 per share. on the other side of the coin, analysts are expecting yearly earnings for BIDZ to come in at or around $0.57 per share based on revenues of $234.24M, both being the lower end of BIDZ’s estimates
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
The company’s product inventory includes gold, platinum, and silver jewelry sets with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and other precious and semi-precious stones, as well as rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and watches. Bidz.com also sells certified merchant merchandise, such as art, collectibles, and gift items. Headquartered in Culver City, California, the company was founded in 1998 and went public in July of 2007.
In lieu of the dreary overall market performance, year-to-date, Bidz.com has shown some promise during this time. In fact, over the past seven months or so, the stock has returned a 51% gain, from $7.23 a share n the first of the year, to its current trading price of $10.31 per share. Analysts appear to agree, as many feel that there is still a large market share out there for BIDZ to take hold of.
There have also been several important activities accomplished over the past quarter that Bidz.com can attribute to solid business savvy. In addition to the company repurchasing some $12M in stock t reduce the float, the company was recently added to the Russell 2000, while launching a Spanish version of its online auction site back in May. And last but not least, while the company managed to increase their international sales figures by nearly 56%, they also were able to pick up nearly $24M in finished jewelry from LID Ltd., one of the world’s leading manufacturers of diamond jewelry, in a bankruptcy auction.
“We are extremely pleased with our continued very strong financial performance, as well as the progress we have made in our key metrics, such as average selling price per order, average orders per day, average items sold per day, and number of new buyers, all of which have improved on a year over year basis,” said David Zinberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bidz.com. “Our core auction business continues to see significant organic and profitable growth, both domestically, and especially internationally. Additionally, we were able to successfully win a significant bankruptcy auction, and add some incremental B2B sales. We remain intensely committed to meeting our profit objectives.”
Furthermore, David Zinberg added, “There is still a tremendous opportunity for us to capture a larger share of the global jewelry market, which is expected to reach $213B worldwide by 2010. We have many initiatives in place for growth, including additional translations of our website into other languages and further development of our newer initiatives, such as Buyz.com, our online retail store. We believe that these new initiatives will provide a foundation for even stronger revenue and earnings growth once the economy begins to improve.”
Looking ahead, the company is projecting 3Q revenues between $55M and $58M and earnings per share of $0.10 or $0.11, while analysts are projecting earnings of $0.10 on $48.3M in sales. More importantly, the company projects full-year earnings higher than previously stated. BIDZ is now expecting full-year revenues to range between $240M and $245M, up from $225M to $230M, while posting earnings per share between $0.56 and $0.59, and had previously announced EPS between $0.52 and $0.55 per share. on the other side of the coin, analysts are expecting yearly earnings for BIDZ to come in at or around $0.57 per share based on revenues of $234.24M, both being the lower end of BIDZ’s estimates
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
BetterTrades looks at Almost Family Inc. - August 5, 2008
Almost Family Inc. (AFAM), a provider of home health care throughout numerous states, made it known earlier this morning that the company reported their financial results for the 2Q of 2008. During the recent quarter, AFAM posted net income of $3.9M, or $0.50 per share, which was nearly a 100% gain from last year’s earnings of $2M, or $0.35 per share of 2007. Those numbers appear even more impressive when taken into account the fact that Almost Family added more than 2.25M outstanding shares during the quarter in order to raise some $37M in capital. Revenues during the period increased nearly 50% year-over-year, from $32.5M to $48.7M.
Almost Family provides home care services in Florida, Kentucky, Ohio, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Alabama, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. It operates in two segments, Visiting Nurse (VN) and Personal Care (PC). The VN segment, which operates primarily under the trade names Caretenders and Mederi-Caretenders, provides a range of Medicare-certified home health nursing services to patients in need of recuperative care, typically following a period of hospitalization or care in another type of inpatient facility.
The PC segment, which operates under the trade name Almost Family, provides services in patients' homes on an as-needed, hourly, or live-in basis. These services include personal care, medication management, meal preparation, caregiver respite, and homemaking. By the end of 2007, Almost Family operated 33 Medicare-certified home health agencies with 51 locations and 22 personal care locations.
As for the company’s individual operating segments, the VN segment recorded revenues of $38.9M, up 66% from last year’s figure of $23.5M, while operating income jumped 88% year-over-year, from $4.6M to $8.6M. The total revenue growth that Almost Family incurred was $15.4M, as $7.6M came from acquired operations and 33% of their growth came from within the company’s business model.
As for the PC segment, during the 2Q, revenues totaled $9.8M, up 9% from a year ago, and operating income for the recent quarter came in at $821K. Much of the aforementioned acquisition income came from the purchase of Patient Care Inc., which just happened to be finalized on August 1st. The acquisition, the largest thus far for AFAM, increases their exposure in the Northeast and now currently operates 89 offices in 11 states. Patient Care was acquired for approximately $45M and AFAM will take on an additional $1.3M in debt which Patient Care was carrying on their books.
When the deal was first announced, back on June 20th, the company’s stock reached a 52-week high that day, hitting $26.48 a share. on news today of the company’s earnings report, the stock yet again set another new 52-week high, this time peaking at $38.87 a share. By the close of today’s trading session, shares of Almost Family concluded at $37.00, up $3.43 or 10.2%.
There are many positive that investors look for in a company in which Almost Family possesses. Some of these factors include a sensible P/E Ratio of 24.83, for a company whose stock has risen nearly 90% over the past year, while the S&P 500, the benchmark, has succumbed nearly 22% over that same time frame. Return on Equity (ROE), which shows investors how well management is investing company capital, is at 26.4%, and just recently, analysts which are following the stock, which is only two, have raised their earnings per share expectations from $1.31, to $1.67 a share.
Finally, Almost Family’s earnings growth over the past year has been just under 52%, which equates to better than 70% of their competitors within their industry. Also, both revenue and earnings growth have been increasing quarter-over-quarter over the past 24 months. However, the main contributing factor to AFAM’s success will be that of the increased home care provided due to the population explosion of aging baby boomers.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Almost Family provides home care services in Florida, Kentucky, Ohio, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Alabama, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. It operates in two segments, Visiting Nurse (VN) and Personal Care (PC). The VN segment, which operates primarily under the trade names Caretenders and Mederi-Caretenders, provides a range of Medicare-certified home health nursing services to patients in need of recuperative care, typically following a period of hospitalization or care in another type of inpatient facility.
The PC segment, which operates under the trade name Almost Family, provides services in patients' homes on an as-needed, hourly, or live-in basis. These services include personal care, medication management, meal preparation, caregiver respite, and homemaking. By the end of 2007, Almost Family operated 33 Medicare-certified home health agencies with 51 locations and 22 personal care locations.
As for the company’s individual operating segments, the VN segment recorded revenues of $38.9M, up 66% from last year’s figure of $23.5M, while operating income jumped 88% year-over-year, from $4.6M to $8.6M. The total revenue growth that Almost Family incurred was $15.4M, as $7.6M came from acquired operations and 33% of their growth came from within the company’s business model.
As for the PC segment, during the 2Q, revenues totaled $9.8M, up 9% from a year ago, and operating income for the recent quarter came in at $821K. Much of the aforementioned acquisition income came from the purchase of Patient Care Inc., which just happened to be finalized on August 1st. The acquisition, the largest thus far for AFAM, increases their exposure in the Northeast and now currently operates 89 offices in 11 states. Patient Care was acquired for approximately $45M and AFAM will take on an additional $1.3M in debt which Patient Care was carrying on their books.
When the deal was first announced, back on June 20th, the company’s stock reached a 52-week high that day, hitting $26.48 a share. on news today of the company’s earnings report, the stock yet again set another new 52-week high, this time peaking at $38.87 a share. By the close of today’s trading session, shares of Almost Family concluded at $37.00, up $3.43 or 10.2%.
There are many positive that investors look for in a company in which Almost Family possesses. Some of these factors include a sensible P/E Ratio of 24.83, for a company whose stock has risen nearly 90% over the past year, while the S&P 500, the benchmark, has succumbed nearly 22% over that same time frame. Return on Equity (ROE), which shows investors how well management is investing company capital, is at 26.4%, and just recently, analysts which are following the stock, which is only two, have raised their earnings per share expectations from $1.31, to $1.67 a share.
Finally, Almost Family’s earnings growth over the past year has been just under 52%, which equates to better than 70% of their competitors within their industry. Also, both revenue and earnings growth have been increasing quarter-over-quarter over the past 24 months. However, the main contributing factor to AFAM’s success will be that of the increased home care provided due to the population explosion of aging baby boomers.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
Monday, August 04, 2008
BetterTrades looks at MDU Resources Group Inc. - August 4, 2008
Early this morning, MDU Resources Group Inc. (MDU), which operates as a natural resource company within the U.S., made it known that the company released information pertaining to the company’s earnings during the 2Q. During this time, MDU announced that the firm had earned $115.3M or $0.63 a share versus earnings of $89.3M, or $0.49 a share during the same quarter in 2007. Today’s numbers proved to be a 29% increase year-over-year due in large part to the company’s increase in natural gas and oil production. Along with strong net income figures, MDU also managed to post higher revenues, which increased 27%, from $982.4M last year, to $1.25B this year. Current results surpassed analysts’ expectations of $0.57 in earnings per share and total revenues of $1.12B.
As the company was able to boast record earnings throughout numerous business segments during the 2Q, MDU Resources has recently increased their expectations for full-year guidance for 2008. The company’s previous projections of $1.85 to $2.10 a share, was revised upwards between $2.10 and $2.35 per share. Analysts, meanwhile, have their own expectations for the company, in which they think they will earn $2.28 per share, while ranging from $2.13 to $2.46 a share. It has been cited from company officials that "Both our financial and operating performance have been outstanding through the midway point of 2008, and we are very optimistic about a strong second half of the year."
Headquartered in Bismarck, ND and currently employing more than 12,000 workers, MDU Resources, operates five different business segments including natural gas and oil production, natural gas pipelines and energy services, construction materials and contracting, construction services, and electric and natural gas utilities. Within these segments, much of the company’s business is conducted throughout the Plains states and most of the western continental U.S.
Much of the recent success for MDU has come by way of acquisitions. In mid-May, MDU Resources agreed to attain Amador Transit Mix Inc., a concrete company based in Northern California. The company will become part f MDU’s construction segment known as Knife River Corp. and will operate particularly in California, Alaska and Hawaii. MDU is expecting that the recent acquisition will contribute to the company’s overall earnings per share in 2008.
Another acquisition, pending, which was announced in the early part of July, was that of Intermountain Gas Co., an auxiliary unit of privately owned Intermountain Industries Inc. For this deal, MDU has offered $328M for the rights to the company through a cash-for-stock purchase and expects that the deal should be finalized during the 4Q of 2008, pending approval and other conditions related to the closing. Currently, Intermountain Gas services come 300,000 customers throughout Idaho, and with the addition, MDU will now serve some 930,000 customers nationally within its electric and natural gas utility arm.
As a relatively unknown play within the natural resource, basic material and infrastructure industries, MDU possesses exceptional valuations, fundamentally, within the current industry scope. MDU posts a P/E Ratio of 12.99, which is far below the industry average of 16.87, and a current dividend yield of 1.8%. With a market cap right around $6B, the company’s stock, over the past year, has been able to post a gain of just over 18%, while the S&P 500, the benchmark for market moves, has lost over 21%.
While many believe that this company is a growth stock, it is truly a value stock in that it is diversified within several industries, thus able to profit from any type of economic circumstances. With the company surprising market expectations on 3 out of the past 5 earnings reports, MDU has an average surprise in earnings of 2.5%, which may lead some to thinking that it’s a growth stock, but its not. By the close of today’s trading session, shares of MDU Resources slipped $0.20, or 0.6%, to close out the day at $31.45 per share.
For more information on the stock and options markets check out the wealth of information at BetterTrades.
As the company was able to boast record earnings throughout numerous business segments during the 2Q, MDU Resources has recently increased their expectations for full-year guidance for 2008. The company’s previous projections of $1.85 to $2.10 a share, was revised upwards between $2.10 and $2.35 per share. Analysts, meanwhile, have their own expectations for the company, in which they think they will earn $2.28 per share, while ranging from $2.13 to $2.46 a share. It has been cited from company officials that "Both our financial and operating performance have been outstanding through the midway point of 2008, and we are very optimistic about a strong second half of the year."
Headquartered in Bismarck, ND and currently employing more than 12,000 workers, MDU Resources, operates five different business segments including natural gas and oil production, natural gas pipelines and energy services, construction materials and contracting, construction services, and electric and natural gas utilities. Within these segments, much of the company’s business is conducted throughout the Plains states and most of the western continental U.S.
Much of the recent success for MDU has come by way of acquisitions. In mid-May, MDU Resources agreed to attain Amador Transit Mix Inc., a concrete company based in Northern California. The company will become part f MDU’s construction segment known as Knife River Corp. and will operate particularly in California, Alaska and Hawaii. MDU is expecting that the recent acquisition will contribute to the company’s overall earnings per share in 2008.
Another acquisition, pending, which was announced in the early part of July, was that of Intermountain Gas Co., an auxiliary unit of privately owned Intermountain Industries Inc. For this deal, MDU has offered $328M for the rights to the company through a cash-for-stock purchase and expects that the deal should be finalized during the 4Q of 2008, pending approval and other conditions related to the closing. Currently, Intermountain Gas services come 300,000 customers throughout Idaho, and with the addition, MDU will now serve some 930,000 customers nationally within its electric and natural gas utility arm.
As a relatively unknown play within the natural resource, basic material and infrastructure industries, MDU possesses exceptional valuations, fundamentally, within the current industry scope. MDU posts a P/E Ratio of 12.99, which is far below the industry average of 16.87, and a current dividend yield of 1.8%. With a market cap right around $6B, the company’s stock, over the past year, has been able to post a gain of just over 18%, while the S&P 500, the benchmark for market moves, has lost over 21%.
While many believe that this company is a growth stock, it is truly a value stock in that it is diversified within several industries, thus able to profit from any type of economic circumstances. With the company surprising market expectations on 3 out of the past 5 earnings reports, MDU has an average surprise in earnings of 2.5%, which may lead some to thinking that it’s a growth stock, but its not. By the close of today’s trading session, shares of MDU Resources slipped $0.20, or 0.6%, to close out the day at $31.45 per share.
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