Ferro Corporation

Ferro Corporation (FOE - Snapshot Report), the specialty chemical manufacturer, recently announced it was selling its fine chemicals business to Novolyte Technologies LP for $66 million in cash. The company said the proceeds will be used to pay down debt.

The business manufactures electrolytes used to make lithium batteries as well as specialty solvents. Novolyte will absorb the manufacturing employees.

Ferro, a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy), continues to have strong fundamentals.

On Aug 5, it reported second quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates by 31.25%. Sales rose 17% to $650 million from $553.7 million in the year ago period.

Consensus estimates for the third quarter are steady at 31 cents per share. Full year estimates are up 5 cents to $1.38 in the last 60 days. Analysts expect 2008 year-over-year earnings per share growth of 62.65%.

Ferro is now trading at 10.5x forward earnings. Its price-to-book is 1.46. The company reports third-quarter earnings on Nov 6.

Read the July 8 analysis.

Update to Previous Value Zacks Rank Buy Stocks

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Layne Christensen Company (LAYN - Snapshot Report), the drilling service provider, grew revenues by 23.8% in the second quarter. LAYN has surprised on earnings 3 out of the last 4 quarters on average by 19.18%. It has a forward P/E of 8.05. Read the Oct 17 analysis.