Tag - Aimc

Shares of Altra Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:AIMC) are seeing upward momentum in pre-market trading after the supplier of clutch brakes, couplings, gearing, belted drives and power transmission components reported second-quarter earnings after Monday’s close that trumped the consensus on Wall Street. The firm also raised its full year forecast, stating that it is optimistic for the remainder of the year due to strong bookings and expected strong demand.

Shares gained 10%, or $1.67, to $17.75 in pre-market trading. For detailed price information and recent news stories about Altra Holdings, click AIMC.

The designer and producer of motion-control equipment has nothing to do with the automotive industry. Rather, it provides key components for use in high-volume manufacturing where reliability and accuracy are essential in avoiding expensive down time. Some of the industries that Altra supplies (such as energy and mining) are in a real boom phase despite the general economic slowdown.

For the first-quarter ended March 29, earnings came in at $0.37 per share, compared with a consensus of $0.33. Jefferies & Co. analysts commented favorably on the performance, much better than the $0.30 they had predicted. Jefferies raised its earnings estimate for the year to $1.34 from $1.30, compared with $1.04 in 2007, and belatedly raised its price target to $18 from $13 — Altra had long since topped $13 and was trading at about $16.40 at the time of the earnings announcement on May 5.

Jefferies kept its rating at “hold” because the target was less than 15% from the actual price. The stock now has two “buys” and two “strong buys.” The mean price target is $19.50, compared with a high of $20 and the low Jefferies target of $18. The 52-week range is a high of $18.80 reached last July and a low of $11.07 in March.

Although Altra can trace its history back to the 1857 formation of T.B. Wood’s, one of the 19 brands in its portfolio, the company itself was cobbled together in 2004 and 2005 by the private equity firm Genstar Capital, and went public in December 2006. While the individual brands operate autonomously, they are supervised by the parent operating company, Altra Industrial Motion, Inc., based in Quincy, Mass., and follow the “Altra Business System,” which is modeled after the Toyota Production System and includes the Kaizen continuous business improvement concept designed to eliminate . . .

The Russell 2000 and the other major indices are falling despite news of strong earnings at Morgan Stanley and a fall in bond yields.

At 10:15 a.m. ET the Russell 2000 has lost 1.91 points, or 0.23 percent, to 846.43. Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 4.39 points, or 0.03 percent, to 13,631.03.

Investors reacted well to news that New York-based financial services giant Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) reported a 40% increase in its second-quarter net income, while revenue rose 32% to $11.52 billion.

Elsewhere, the yield on the U.S. government’s 10-year Treasury note has fallen to 5.13%, easing concerns of higher borrowing costs. Bond yields help determine rates on loans and mortgages.

Massachusetts producer of mechanical power transmissions and motion control products Altra Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: AIMC) announced the pricing of a public offering of its common stock before the bell Wednesday.  The offerings will be priced at $16.40 per share.

Illinois-based provider of dredging services Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp. (Nasdaq: GLDD) announced a $100 million secondary offering of shares of its common stock.