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MasTec (MTZ - Free Report) is a $3.3 billion engineering and construction (E&C) company specializing in energy and telecom sector projects. Another strong quarterly report and raised guidance has put the stock in the upper echelon of the Zacks Rank once again.
MasTec delivered a 60% EPS beat generated by much higher-than-expected volumes of Oil & Gas work and strong execution. The company also spoke very positively about their pipeline work for 2018, with a higher backlog than it had at this time last year.
Management increased full year guidance to $6.0 billion in revenues from $5.7 billion previously, and adjusted EPS to $2.73 from $2.45. There was some "pull forward" for the Q2 beat as some of the Rover Pipeline project in West Virginia was recently given the all-clear by WV environmental authorities again.
But as analysts at investment bank Stifel Nicolaus noted "the company now has open spread capacity that it could potentially fill in 4Q. This would represent potential upside to our forecast." The bank raised its EPS estimates and their price target on MasTec from $53 to $55.50.
As estimates stand right now, MasTec looks poised to grow the top line by over 16% this year and the bottom one by 45%. Next year's revenues are projected to grow by 6% to $6.35 billion.
A Great Year, Muted Expectations for the Next One
One investor concern might be that EPS estimates have not risen as dramatically for next year, currently showing a flat performance in the Zacks consensus. But this is most likely an effect of the relative uncertainty surrounding many of these major energy projects which represent 40-45% of MTZ business.
A generally positive market in telecom E&C projects from major builders like AT&T and Verizon also encourages analysts about the MasTech outlook.
But it's the energy sector that keeps them talking right now. FBR Capital raised their price target on MTZ to $66 from $57 this month. Here's what StreetInsider.com reported...
FBR Capital analyst, Alex Rygiel, reiterated his Outperform rating on MTZ shares and raised his price target to $66 from $57 after the company posted exceptional 2Q results. The analyst believes backlog continues to provide good visibility and is expected to grow through the rest of the year.
The analyst believes the Oil & Gas segment will be particularly strong through year end but management is even more positive on the 2018 outlook due to the current backlog, pipeline of projects and solid industry drivers across all of its segments.
Why Can't MTZ Get Through $47
With the old price targets for MTZ shares already in the mid-$50s, an obvious question would be about why the struggle so much this year to get anywhere near $50.
As a holder of MTZ shares, I have watched twice on the past two earnings reports how the stock rallies above $47 into the quarter and gets rejected all the way back to $40.
One obvious theory is that the stock has had a terrific run in the past 18 months. Here's a performance chart I showed my followers last week of the one-year comparisons between MTZ, it's benchmarks like the Industrial Sector ETF (XLI) and several E&C peers like Dycom (DY - Free Report) , Jacobs , and Quanta (PWR - Free Report) ...
But the valuation at 15.6X is not rich and much of this outperformance is justified when you look at the delivery of earnings surprises and raised guidance/estimates in the past several quarters.
Here's the proprietary Zacks Price & Consensus chart shown with EPS surprises where the length of the green arrow indicates the magnitude of the beat...
While MasTec may have uncertainty that drives some large investors to take profits below $50, I think MTZ shares have a good shot to rally from the low $40s for one more shot at that mark, especially as visibility around the industries of it largest customers becomes clearer.
Disclosure: I own MTZ shares for the Zacks TAZR Trader.
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Bull of the Day: MasTec (MTZ)
MasTec (MTZ - Free Report) is a $3.3 billion engineering and construction (E&C) company specializing in energy and telecom sector projects. Another strong quarterly report and raised guidance has put the stock in the upper echelon of the Zacks Rank once again.
MasTec delivered a 60% EPS beat generated by much higher-than-expected volumes of Oil & Gas work and strong execution. The company also spoke very positively about their pipeline work for 2018, with a higher backlog than it had at this time last year.
Management increased full year guidance to $6.0 billion in revenues from $5.7 billion previously, and adjusted EPS to $2.73 from $2.45. There was some "pull forward" for the Q2 beat as some of the Rover Pipeline project in West Virginia was recently given the all-clear by WV environmental authorities again.
But as analysts at investment bank Stifel Nicolaus noted "the company now has open spread capacity that it could potentially fill in 4Q. This would represent potential upside to our forecast." The bank raised its EPS estimates and their price target on MasTec from $53 to $55.50.
As estimates stand right now, MasTec looks poised to grow the top line by over 16% this year and the bottom one by 45%. Next year's revenues are projected to grow by 6% to $6.35 billion.
A Great Year, Muted Expectations for the Next One
One investor concern might be that EPS estimates have not risen as dramatically for next year, currently showing a flat performance in the Zacks consensus. But this is most likely an effect of the relative uncertainty surrounding many of these major energy projects which represent 40-45% of MTZ business.
A generally positive market in telecom E&C projects from major builders like AT&T and Verizon also encourages analysts about the MasTech outlook.
But it's the energy sector that keeps them talking right now. FBR Capital raised their price target on MTZ to $66 from $57 this month. Here's what StreetInsider.com reported...
FBR Capital analyst, Alex Rygiel, reiterated his Outperform rating on MTZ shares and raised his price target to $66 from $57 after the company posted exceptional 2Q results. The analyst believes backlog continues to provide good visibility and is expected to grow through the rest of the year.
The analyst believes the Oil & Gas segment will be particularly strong through year end but management is even more positive on the 2018 outlook due to the current backlog, pipeline of projects and solid industry drivers across all of its segments.
Why Can't MTZ Get Through $47
With the old price targets for MTZ shares already in the mid-$50s, an obvious question would be about why the struggle so much this year to get anywhere near $50.
As a holder of MTZ shares, I have watched twice on the past two earnings reports how the stock rallies above $47 into the quarter and gets rejected all the way back to $40.
One obvious theory is that the stock has had a terrific run in the past 18 months. Here's a performance chart I showed my followers last week of the one-year comparisons between MTZ, it's benchmarks like the Industrial Sector ETF (XLI) and several E&C peers like Dycom (DY - Free Report) , Jacobs , and Quanta (PWR - Free Report) ...
But the valuation at 15.6X is not rich and much of this outperformance is justified when you look at the delivery of earnings surprises and raised guidance/estimates in the past several quarters.
Here's the proprietary Zacks Price & Consensus chart shown with EPS surprises where the length of the green arrow indicates the magnitude of the beat...
While MasTec may have uncertainty that drives some large investors to take profits below $50, I think MTZ shares have a good shot to rally from the low $40s for one more shot at that mark, especially as visibility around the industries of it largest customers becomes clearer.
Disclosure: I own MTZ shares for the Zacks TAZR Trader.
5 Trades Could Profit "Big-League" from Trump Policies
If the stocks above spark your interest, wait until you look into companies primed to make substantial gains from Washington's changing course.
Today Zacks reveals 5 tickers that could benefit from new trends like streamlined drug approvals, tariffs, lower taxes, higher interest rates, and spending surges in defense and infrastructure. See these buy recommendations now >>