… but high p/e adds to Tennant’s risk

Article Excerpt

TENNANT CORP. $37 (New York symbol TNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 18.8 million; Market cap: $695.6 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.tennantco.com) now gets around 20% of its sales from its environmentally friendly floor scrubbers, which use electricity to make tap water act like a detergent. Thanks to strong demand for these products, Tennant’s sales rose 10.9% in the three months ended September 30, 2011, to $187.0 million from $168.6 million a year earlier. Earnings jumped 33.2%, to $9.7 million from $7.3 million. Per-share earnings rose 31.6%, to $0.50 from $0.38, on more shares outstanding. The stock has gained 20% in the past year, and now trades at a high 20.8 times the $1.93 a share Tennant will probably earn in 2011. That increases the risk of sudden drop if Tennant’s earnings growth slows, particularly if businesses put off buying new cleaning equipment because of the uncertain economy. Tennant is still a hold…