Worthington (WOR) Tops Earnings & Revenue Estimates in Q4
Worthington Industries, Inc. WOR reported net earnings of $56.5 million or 87 cents per share in fourth-quarter fiscal 2017 (ended May 31, 2017), lower than $58.5 million or 92 cents per share recorded a year ago. Earnings per share for the reported quarter beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 83 cents.
Revenues rose around 18.3% year over year to $845.3 million in the reported quarter. Sales also comfortably topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $786 million.
For the fiscal year ended May 31, the company logged a profit of $204.5 million or $3.15 per share, up from a profit of $143.7 million or $2.22 registered a year ago.
Sales for the full year increased roughly 7% year over year to $3 billion.
Worthington Industries, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Worthington Industries, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Worthington Industries, Inc. Quote
Segment Highlights
Worthington witnessed an upsurge in sales of its Steel Processing segment by 25% year over year to $582.2 million in the reported quarter, mainly driven by higher average selling prices.
Sales of Pressure Cylinders segment improved 6% year over year to $231.5 million on the back of higher contributions from the industrial products and oil & gas equipment businesses.
Engineered Cabs segment witnessed improvement in sales by 2% year over year to $29.8 million owing to higher volume.
Other business of the company, including the energy innovations business, witnessed an increase in total revenues by $0.8 million year over year to $1.8 million on the back of higher volume.
Financial Position
Worthington ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of around $278.1 million, up about 230.3% year over year.
Total long-term debt was $578.5 million compared with $578.4 million recorded a year ago.
Recent Developments & Outlook
Recently, Worthington acquired Amtrol, a leading producer of water system tanks and pressure cylinders for roughly $283 million. The acquisition combines the two leaders in the U.S. and European LP Gas business, adding well and water tank product lines to Worthington’s portfolio. Moving ahead, the company expects this acquisition to provide momentum and growth in the Pressure Cylinders unit.
Worthington remains focused on improving business through its innovation, transformation in driving lean practices and strengthening competitive position in the markets which it serves.
Price Performance
Worthington’s shares have rallied around 3.9% in the last three months, outperforming the Zacks categorized Metal Products-Procurement and Fabrication industry’s 2.2% gain.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Worthington currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Other top-ranked companies in the basic materials space include The Sherwin-Williams Company SHW, Hitachi Chemical Company, Ltd. HCHMY and The Chemours Company CC. All the three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.
Sherwin-Williams has expected long-term earnings growth rate of 11.4%.
Hitachi Chemical has expected long-term earnings growth rate of 5%.
Chemours has expected long-term earnings growth rate of 15.5%.
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