Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc (AIT) easily topped Wall Street’s expectations and gave an optimistic forecast heading into a new fiscal year.
Company Description
Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc provides a variety of industrial products like bearings, industrial rubbers, fluid power products, etc.
Net Income Jumps
On Aug 10 Applied Industrial Technologies reported fourth-quarter and full-year results. Net income for the year jumped 56% to almost $66 million. Full-year earnings per share were $1.54.
Sales for 2009 were off 1.6% but the company finished strong with fourth-quarter earnings rising 23% to $523 million. This lead to the quarterly EPS of 64 cents, which was 25 cents better than expected.
Optimistic Outlook
In the same press release Applied Industrial’s management said they expect to earn between $1.70 and $1.95 per share this year, which is a 10% to 27% growth rate.
Analysts unanimously raised their estimates as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2011 is coming in toward the high end of the company’s range, at $1.84, for a 20% growth rate.
Next year’s estimates are averaging $2.23, for a 21% increase.
Valuations
Currently, shares are trading with good valuations. The stock is around 14 times the forward estimates and with a PEG ratio of 0.9. Although, part of those attractive valuations is due to this next section.
The Chart
Shares of AIT have fallen sharply over the past 2 weeks, but once shares stabilize, there may be a great entry point. Right now the stock is nearing “oversold” territory, but that may not be enough given this market. Patience is a virtue and maybe a profitable one when it comes to AIT.
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