Blyth (BTH): Pennant formation suggests further upside


Blyth Inc. (NYSE: BTH) is the largest candle maker in the United States, marketing scented and unscented candles and portable heating fuels under such brand names as Colonial Candle, Miles Kimball, PartyLite, Sterno and Handy Fuel. The firm also offers an extensive array of decorative accessories, gourmet foods and household convenience items. Products are sold through specialty retail, wholesale, catalog, Internet and home party channels.

The company pleased investors earlier in the week, when it reported Q3 EPS of 24 cents and revenues of $285.9 million. Analysts had been looking for 12 cents and $260.6 million. Management also guided FY08 EPS to $1.37-1.42 ($1.29 Street consensus).

BTH shares popped on the news and then moved into a bullish "pennant" consolidation pattern. Prices frequently exit pennants moving in the same direction they were traveling on entry. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the issue with three "holds". The BTH Price to Sales ratio (0.78) and Price to Book ratio (2.67) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutional investors hold about 70% of the outstanding shares. The stock is one of those used to calculate the S&P 400 MidCap Index. Over the past 52 weeks, it has traded between $15.45 and $30.22. A stop-loss of $20.50 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA-89.2312,801.23
NASDAQ-23.352,903.88
S&P 500-9.311,342.64

Last updated: February 10, 2012: 05:27 PM

Hot Stocks

General Electric

18.875-0.255(-1.33)

Alcoa

10.29-0.35(-3.29)

Apple Inc

493.42+0.25(+0.05)

Google Inc 'A'

605.91-5.55(-0.91)

Bank of America

8.07-0.11(-1.34)

Wal-Mart Stores

61.90-0.06(-0.10)

Exxon Mobil Corp

83.80-1.08(-1.27)

Ford

12.44-0.25(-1.97)

Citigroup

32.925-0.735(-2.18)

IBM

192.42-0.71(-0.37)

Yahoo

16.14+0.14(+0.88)

Starbucks

48.82-0.38(-0.77)

Microsoft

30.495-0.275(-0.89)

Home Depot

45.33+0.06(+0.13)

DailyFinance Headlines

Benzinga Headlines

TheFlyOnTheWall.com Headlines

BioHealth Investor Headlines

WalletPop Headlines

DailyFinance BlackBerry App

My Portfolios

Track your stocks here!

Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.

BloggingStocks Partners

More from AOL Money & Finance

BioHealth Investor Headlines

Page Loaded in 1328912860247 ms.