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How State Taxes Put a Bigger Pinch on the PoorGibraltar Industries (NASDAQ: ROCK) manufactures
residential and commercial building products and processed metal products for industrial applications. The Building Products segment offers ventilation systems, mailboxes, roof edging, flashing, metal roofing, steel framing, gutters, shelving and fasteners. The Processed Metal unit fashions cold-rolled strip steel into a variety of intermediate products for companies in the automotive and hardware industries. It also provides coated sheet steel and powdered metal. The firm operates 81 facilities in the United States, Canada, China, England, Germany and Poland.
Gibraltar surprised the Street earlier in the month, when it reported Q1 EPS of 27 cents and revenues of $325.5 million. Analysts had been expecting 14 cents and $317.6 million. The CEO attributed success to growth in the company's commercial building, industrial and international businesses. Management also guided FY08 EPS to $1.05-$1.25 ($1.02 consensus).
ROCK 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 one "buy" and six "holds". Analysts see a 14% growth rate, through the next year. The ROCK P/E ratio (14.29), Price to Sales ratio (0.33), Price to Book ratio (0.78), Price to Cash Flow ratio (6.19), Price to Free Cash Flow ratio (2.96) and EPS Growth rate (22.73%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutions hold about 84% of the outstanding shares. The stock is one of those used to calculate the S&P 600 SmallCap Index. Over the past 52 weeks, it has traded between $9.59 and $23.44. A stop-loss of $12.90 looks good here.
Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com. He does not hold a position in the stock discussed above.
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