BWAY Holding Company

BWAY Holding Company (BWY - Snapshot Report) has surprised on estimates 4 quarters in a row by an average of 31.51%. It also recently raised guidance to the higher end of its forecast range. The company trades with a forward P/E of 13.04.

Company Description

BWAY Holding manufactures industrial in 21 plants in the United States and Canada. These include paint cans, aerosol cans, plastic drums, and ammunition boxes.

BWAY Guides to Higher

On Oct 12, the company announced that it was now expecting full year EPS to be at the upper end of the Aug 5 guidance range which was $1.20 to $1.26 per share. In August, fourth quarter EPS was expected to be in the range of 34 to 39 cents.

It also announced it had signed a definitive asset purchase agreement to acquire Ball Corporation's (BLL - Analyst Report) injection molded plastic pail plant and business located in Georgia. The price was $32 million and the deal is expected to close by the end of October. Funding was from available cash on hand.

After the close of the deal in late October, the company will provide fiscal 2010 earnings guidance.

Zacks Consensus Estimates Move Higher

Given the company's announcement that it was guiding to the high end of its forecast range for the year, covering analysts moved to raise fourth quarter and full-year estimates.

The fourth quarter Zacks Consensus Estimate rose a penny to 38 cents in the last 30 days with 1 out of 6 analysts raising in the last week.

The full year Zacks Consensus Estimate climbed 4 cents to $1.27 per share as 1 out of 6 also raised in the last 7 days. The estimate is higher than the company's revised forecast. Analysts now expect fiscal 2009 earnings growth of 79.34%.

BWAY Beat by 40.48% in the Third Quarter

In August, the company reported fiscal third quarter results and beat on the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 17 cents. Earnings per share were 59 cents compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 42 cents.

Revenues, however, declined 13.7% to $236.4 million from $274 million in the year ago period. Volumes fell 19%. However, continued cost cutting and improved aerosol operating results boosted the bottom line.

Value Fundamentals

BWAY is a Zacks #1 Rank (strong buy) stock. It has a price-to-book of 2.24. The company has a solid 1-year return on equity (ROE) of 16.15%.

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