Ennis Inc.

Ennis Inc. (EBF) has surprised on the Zacks Consensus Estimate the last 3 quarters in a row even while economic conditions remain tough. The company has recently seen a quarter over quarter increase in sales. Ennis is trading with a forward P/E of 13.5.

Company Description

Ennis makes business forms, apparel and other business products. The company operates two business segments: Print and Apparel.

The Print Segment makes business forms, printed and electronic media, presentation products, advertising specialties, Post-it Notes, and envelopes. The Apparel Segment manufactures T-Shirts and distributes active-wear apparel through 6 distribution centers throughout North America.

Ennis Surprised by 42.31% in the Last Quarter

On Sep 21, Ennis reported earnings results for the quarter ended Aug 31 and easily beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11 cents. Earnings per share were 37 cents compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 26 cents. EPS was 36 cents in the year ago quarter but grew by 42.3% from the prior quarter.

Sales, however, fell 14.5% to $137.8 million from $161.1 million in the year ago period. Both the print and apparel segments saw a decline year over year. Print sales fell 13.5% to $73.9 million from $85.4 million while apparel sales declined 15.6% to $75.7 million from $63.9 million.

The company was optimistic as earnings per share managed to hold up compared to the year ago quarter even while sales fell year over year. The company has seen able to improve its margins in both segments due to cost reduction initiatives.

Zacks Consensus Estimates Rise

Even though the company didn't give guidance in its Sep 21 results, the one covering analyst moved to raise estimates for the quarter and the full year. For the quarter ending Nov 30, the Zacks Consensus Estimate jumped 6 cents to 30 cents per share in the prior month.

The 2009 Zacks Consensus Estimate rose 17.6% to $1.20 from $1.02 per share in the last 30 days.

Value Fundamentals

Ennis is a Zacks #1 Rank (strong buy) stock. It has a price-to-book of 1.39. The company has a solid 5-year average return on equity (ROE) of 12.59%.

Additionally, the company rewards shareholders through a dividend which is currently yielding 3.80%. Ennis has paid dividends since at least 1987.

Read the full analyst report on EBF