Raven Inds Stays in the Black

Source: http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/14378/Raven+Inds+Stays+in+the+Black
Posted on Friday, August 22nd, 2008 | In Stocks to Watch

Contributed by: Zacks Market Commentaries (http://www.zacks.com/) -

Raven Industries, Inc. (RAVN) reported second quarter EPS of $0.38, up 18.8% year-over-year primarily due to continued strong performance of the Flow Controls segment and the Aerostar segment.

Raven stands to benefit from the positive long-term trends in the U.S. agricultural economy, its contracts for military parachutes and protective wear as well as growing sale of research balloons. However, operating performance of the Engineered Films and Electronics Systems segments remain weak as a result of competitive pricing pressure and the downturn in the construction market.

Moreover, sales of the ESD unit also suffered from the loss of a major customer. We expect earnings growth in FY09 to be hampered by weaker operating margins in the Engineered Films and Electronic Systems segments. We reiterate our Hold rating on shares of RAVN.

However, Raven Industries possesses a strong balance sheet, with no long-term debt and strong cash flow generated by its various business units. The company has sufficient liquidity to fund near-term operations. The company carries $32.2 million in cash and cash equivalents, has access to an uncollaterized short-term credit line of $8.0 million, and generates free cash flow.

We have valued Raven Industries on a P/E multiple basis. At a price of $41.49, RAVN shares trade at a P/E of 23.6x our FY09 EPS estimate of $1.76, which is at a significant premium to the industry median multiple of 13.5x. We believe the premium is justified based on its high earnings predictability, strong balance sheet and above-average industry margins.

Read the full analyst report on RAVN

“RAVN” Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research