Lydall (LDL) and Crawford & Company (CRD.B) - Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers
16 Mai 2011 - 2:00AM
Zacks
This week begins with another lackluster session for the market. A
number of Zacks #1 Rank stocks were still able to buck the trend,
but 2 companies, especially, led the way.
The #1 position on today's Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List was
occupied by Lydall, Inc. (LDL), which was up 7.2% on Monday.
Volume almost reached six digits at a little more than 98,000
shares, compared to the daily average of around 73,000.
LDL focuses on manufacturing specialty engineered products for
the thermal/acoustical and filtration/separation markets. It has
operations in the U.S., France, the Netherlands and Germany, with
sales offices in the U.S. Europe and Asia.
It is 1 of only 3 companies from the Diversified Operations
industry on today's Zacks #1 Rank List. The other 2 names are
Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (HUWHY) and LSB Industries,
Inc. (LXU).
The past 30 days have seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2011
advance 25% to 76 cents per share from 61 cents. Meanwhile, the
Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2012 has jumped by 31% to $1.14 per
share, which also suggests year-over-year profit growth of 50%. (It
should be noted that the above expectations are based on only 1
estimate.)
![](http://www.zacks.com/images/upload_dir/1305577345.jpg)
The epicenter of this improvement was Lydall's first-quarter
report from early this month. Earnings per share of 16 cents blew
past the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 300%. Sales surged 43% to
$108.1 million.
The company's Thermal/Acoustical and Performance Materials
segments reported net sales of $21.4 million and $9.3 million,
respectively, which were better than the year-ago performances.
The runner-up today on the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List was
Crawford & Company (CRD.B), which reported a solid
first-quarter report earlier this month that included a positive
earnings surprise and an enhanced outlook for 2011.
As a result, shares of the company gained approximately 4.4%
today, as volume moved past 250,000 shares, compared to the daily
average of around 115,000.
Crawford & Company is the world's largest independent
provider of claims management solutions to the risk management and
insurance industry, as well as self-insured entities, with an
expansive global network servicing clients in more than 70
countries.
According to the company, its first-quarter results reflected a
"continued strong performance in our Legal Settlement
Administration segment, and improvement in EMEA/AP (Europe, Middle
East, Africa, Asia Pacific) results, primarily as a result of a
surge in weather-related claims activity."
The company earned 23 cents per share in the quarter, compared
to 6 cents a year earlier. The result marked a positive surprise of
more than 43% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Meanwhile,
consolidated revenues before reimbursements advanced 21% to $285
million.
![](http://www.zacks.com/images/upload_dir/1305575598.jpg)
More importantly, though, Crawford & Company raised its
guidance for the full year during the report. It now expects
earnings per share between 60 cents and 70 cents, which was above
the Zacks Consensus Estimate at the time, and consolidated revenue
before reimbursements of $1.04 billion to $1.07 billion.
As a result, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for this year has
gained approximately 27.5% in the past 30 days to 65 cents per
share. (As with LDL, it should be noted that only 1 estimate
accounts for this consensus.) Meanwhile, two estimates have
combined for a Zacks Consensus Estimate of 58 cents for 2012, which
is up 1.8% in a month.
Crawford & Company is part of the Business Services
industry. There are four other names from this space on today's
Zacks #1 Rank List: Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc.
(DTG) and Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (HTZ), both of which
were featured in this article last week, as well as Sajan,
Inc. (SAJA) and Viad Corp. (VVI).
CRAWFORD & CO B (CRD.B): Free Stock Analysis Report
DOLLAR THRIFTY (DTG): Free Stock Analysis Report
HERTZ GLBL HLDG (HTZ): Free Stock Analysis Report
LSB INDS INC (LXU): Free Stock Analysis Report
VIAD CORP (VVI): Free Stock Analysis Report
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