At Circor International (NYSE:CIR), the bread and butter is fluid-control systems, and over the past two years the Massachusetts company has provided investors a steady stream of earnings improvement — not to mention a stock price that has doubled.

The stuff that Circor International makes can’t be called sexy, unless you think consistently turning a profit is racy. Circor has a line of industrial products that can’t be stuffed into a bikini or Speedo in some exotic clime, but its catalog is stuffed with items used in food, petrochemical and pharmaceutical production, military and aerospace applications, and textiles and paper manufacturing.

Circor’s stock has shown that it can weather the chill of a slowing economy or the withering heat from demanding investors. Now the maker of valves, pumps, fittings and specialty devices is striving to consistently grow.

That’s likely where the “International” in its name will come into play, as Circor goes ever more global. And, borrowing a line from Buzz Lightyear, its products are taking journeys to infinity and beyond, on Chinook and Osprey helicopters and Ariane rocket-launching craft.

Shares hit an all-time high of $53.99 on Tuesday, after sinking to a 52-week low of $35.48 on Jan. 23. At Wednesday’s closing, shares of Circor International were at $52.88.

Analysts have taken a wait-and-see approach on Circor, with five of the six surveyed by Thomson Reuters rating shares a “hold” (with one at “strong buy”). The median price target at Thomson calls for $55 a year out.

Circor International was formed in 1999, when Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) spun off the part of its valve and controls business focusing on oil and gas to shareholders. The bulk of Circor’s operations are spread across the United States, but it has a healthy presence in Canada, Europe and China.

Circor’s product array falls into two segments: instrumentation and thermal fluid, and energy products. Whether a part is needed to function in cryogenics or the extreme heat and pressure of other environments, Circor appears ready to supply it.

If you’re looking for a whistle, the Leslie Controls unit makes such eclectic devices as industrial-grade water heaters and air whistles for trains and marine vessels. Instrumentation includes Circor Aerospace Group, one of the largest suppliers of valves to aerospace and defense. Circor announced May 21 it bought Motor Technology, a private company that makes electric motors for aerospace and other applications.

Circor has tallied a number of other acquisitions to broaden its product scope, a reconstituted management team and an increased focus on lean manufacturing.

In recent quarters, Circor has delivered surprises to investors, but unlike the gloom pervading Wall Street, these surprises have been unmistakably good.

For the quarter ended March 31, revenues increased 10% to $176.6 million when compared with first-quarter 2007. Net income climbed 62% to $19.5 million, with earnings per share rising to $0.76 from $0.45 in the year-ago period. Circor credited much of its success to the positive impact of a weak dollar.

First-quarter orders totaled $237 million, a 27% increase from the 2007 quarter, and 39% above the preceding quarter. Circor’s backlog reached a record $452 million, up 45% from the prior year.

What CEO Bill Higgins crowed about in a May 1 conference call with investors was the margin improvement. “Operating margins were 11% in the first quarter, compared with 7.4% in the first quarter of last year,” he said. “And similar to our order and revenue story, operating margin expansion was broad-based.”

Circor couldn’t wait to give investors something to cheer about: the company updated its earnings guidance in mid-April by a whopping 50%, which gave the shares a 12% one-day boost, then delivered as promised on April 30. The analysts’ consensus estimate had called for first-quarter earnings of $0.58 a share.

After Circor released its first-quarter results on April 30, several analysts maintained “neutral” ratings on the stock while raising long-range price targets. Full-year earnings expectations also were boosted.

In his report to clients, Michael Schneider of Robert W. Baird & Co. wrote that 2008 performance “depends on Circor delivering an equal mix of steady margin gains in instrumentation and sustained double-digit order growth in energy,” as he raised the price target to $55 from $49 but kept his rating at “neutral.” 

Similarly, Ned Armstrong of Friedman, Billings Ramsey & Co. kept a “market perform” rating while raising his Circor price target to $52 from $45. He told investors “upside in this stock could come from management’s successful efforts to generate and maintain respectable, consistent profitability levels in the instrumentation and thermal fluid-control segment. The company should also benefit from improved working capital management, particularly inventory.”

Circor appears to be hitting on all cylinders as it revamps to meet international demand. For the current quarter, Circor expects to report earnings in the range of $0.74 to $0.83 per share, excluding one-time charges, when it posts results on July 30. The consensus estimate of analysts anticipates earnings of $0.80 per share, compared with the $0.63 per share in the year-ago quarter.