Carlisle Companies

Carlisle Companies Inc. (CSL - Snapshot Report) is outpacing the market and seeing bullish Zacks Consensus Estimates ahead of reporting. Full-year projections of $1.83 per share jumped from $1.43 over the past 3 months. CSL reports on Oct 20.

Company Description

Carlisle Companies is a diversified global manufacturing company that serves a wide variety of industries, including construction materials, commercial roofing, specialty tire and wheel, foodservice and aerospace to name a few.

Recent Acquisitions

The company recently announced that it acquired from its joint venture partner, The Yokohama Rubber Company, Ltd., the remaining interest in Japan Power Brake, Inc. (JPB) of Atsugi, Japan.

Carlisle stated that with annual sales of approximately $10 million, JPB is a leading provider of high performance braking solutions for off-highway equipment, primarily in the mining and construction industries in Japan.

Carlisle also recently announced the acquisition of privately-held Electronic Cable Specialists, Inc. (ECS), a leading designer and manufacturer of electrical and structural products and services for the aviation, medical and industrial markets.

ECS has annual sales of $50 million and it is headquartered in Franklin, WI with various distribution points in the US, France and the United Kingdom.

A Recent Dividend Hike

Carlisle boosted its quarterly dividend 3.2% to 16 cents per share. The dividend was paid out on Sept 1 and marked the 33rd straight year of dividend increases.

The company’s dividend yield of 2% is in line with the industry average.

Solid Momentum and Higher Forecasts

Carlisle is outpacing the market and seeing bullish Zacks Consensus Estimates ahead of reporting. Full-year projections of $1.83 per share jumped from $1.43 over the past 3 months.

For 2010, analyst polled by Zacks are calling for earnings of $2.13 per share, versus the 3 months-ago projections of $1.65.

Third-quarter forecasts of 68 cents per share were increased from 50 cents over the past 3 months.

The company is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Oct 20.

Second Quarter Results

The second quarter saw earnings of 79 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 76%. Earnings per share were ahead of the consensus by an average 18% over the past 4 consecutive quarters.

David A. Roberts, Chairman, President and CEO, said, “Our end market conditions continue to be a challenge. However, despite a 28% decline in our second quarter sales, we were able to increase our operating margins. We were especially pleased with results at our Construction Materials segment, which increased their operating margin to 16.3%, as compared to 12.2% for the same period last year, despite a 29% decline in sales.

Roberts added that in addition to the margin improvement, the company continued its strong cash flow performance in the quarter, generating $205 million in net cash from operations.

“As a result of the positive cash flow, we were able to reduce our outstanding debt by $185 million during the second quarter. Our balance sheet and available credit lines position us to take advantage of potential acquisitions and further invest in our core businesses to grow our revenue and expand our operating margins,” said Roberts.