Value Stock Picks – Good Time to Buy More Finning

Article Excerpt

FINNING INTERNATIONAL INC. $24 (Toronto symbol FTT; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 172.7 million; Market cap: $4.1 billion; SI Rating: Above average) is one of the world’s largest dealers of heavy equipment made by Caterpillar Inc. Products include tractors, bulldozers, pavers and trucks. Major customers include the mining, forest products and construction industries. In the three months ended June 30, 2008, Finning earned $67.2 million, down 9.3% from $74.1 million a year earlier. Earnings per share fell 7.1%, to $0.39 from $0.42, on fewer shares outstanding. The lower earnings were largely due to costs related to the integration of Collicutt Energy Services, which Finning acquired earlier this year for $135.3 million. Collicutt makes and services gas compression equipment and power generators for oil and gas well operators in Western Canada. Thanks partly to the new operations, revenue in the quarter grew 2.3%, to $1.53 billion from $1.50 billion. Finning’s backlog for new equipment at June 30, 2008 was $1.7…