(By Balachander) Actuant Corp. (NYSE:ATU) reported mixed results for the fourth quarter and the maker of hydraulic systems updated its forecast for 2013.
The Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based company earned 55 cents a share from continuing operations, excluding a non-cash pre-tax asset impairment charge of 77 cents related to the Mastervolt business.
Sales rose to $405 million from $403 million with solid growth in three of the company's four segments.
Wall Street analysts, on average, expect ATU to earn 54 cents a share on sales of $410 million for the three months ending August.
The company posted a loss of 23 cents a share for the fourth quarter, versus a profit of 55 cents in the same period of last year.
Actuant's Industrial segment sales rose 2 percent, Energy segment sales jumped 13 percent. Electrical segment sales gained 4 percent, while Engineered Solutions segment dropped 10 percent.
Looking ahead for the first quarter, Actuant expects earnings per share in the range of $0.48 to $0.52 on sales of $390 million to $395 million, while analysts expect EPS of 52 cents on sales of $403.4 million.
For fiscal 2013, the company now forecasts earnings per share between $2.20 and $2.30, compared with prior outlook of $2.15 to $2.30. It expects sales of $1.68 billion to $1.72 billion versus previous view of $1.665 billion to $1.700 billion. Analysts expect earnings of $2.26 per share on sales of $1.68 billion.
For the preceding third quarter, the company posted adjusted earnings from continuing operations of 60 cents a share on sales of $429 million.
The stock, which has been trading in the 52-week range of $18.13 to $31.33, shed 0.07 percent to end at $29.85 on Wednesday.