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 . . .

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