Wedbush: MYR Group 4Q11 Preview

In a research report published today by Wedbush, MYR Group Inc. MYRG is expected to post strong 4Q11 earnings with solid revenue growth on Wednesday, March 7, after market close. According to Wedbush, “We forecast 4Q11 revenue/EPS of $178.9m/$0.28, vs. the consensus of $203.2m/$0.26. We are looking for fairly robust growth in T&D revenue, to $140.5m in 4Q11, which would represent 18% growth over 4Q10, as we expect MYR group to be in the process of ramping activity for at least two major new transmission projects. We are looking for gross margins of 12.8%, modestly lower than the year ago 14.1% when the company had upside on the Dominion project completion, but a large improvement from 9.4% in 3Q11 and well above the 11.4% consensus, as we expect utilization improved as projects ramped in the quarter.” Wedbush maintains its Outperform rating and $25 PT on MYR, which closed Friday at $19.64.