Actuant Acquires Hayes - Analyst Blog

Machinery company Actuant Corporation ATU recently announced the acquisition of privately held Hayes Industries Ltd. Based in Sugar Land, TX, Hayes is a concrete pre- and post-tensioning products market player. The transaction was valued at $31 million, with future performance-related consideration.  

With a capacity of generating annual revenues of $25 million, Hayes caters to a wide range of markets including extrusion and coating, plastic injection molding, custom equipment, post-tension, pre-stress and machining. The company will presently operate as a part of Actuant's Industrial segment, complementing its existing Precision Sure-Lock business.

Acquisitions have been Actuant's favored mode of business expansion over time. It completed the acquisition of Viking SeaTech in Aug 2013. The acquired assets contributed significantly to the company's revenues in fiscal second-quarter 2014 (ended Feb 28, 2014).

The company is expected to release its fiscal third-quarter 2014 results on Jun 18, 2014. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter stands at 63 cents per share while that for fiscal 2014 stands at $1.97 per share, reflecting year-over-year growth of 1.0% and 4.8%, respectively.

Actuant is involved in the designing, manufacturing and distribution of various industrial products and systems for its clients in more than 30 countries. With a market capitalization of $2.5 billion, Actuant carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the industry include Gorman-Rupp Co. GRC, Illinois Tool Works Inc. ITW and Blount International Inc. BLT. While Gorman-Rupp sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), both Illinois Tool Works and Blount International hold a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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