Flowserve: Strong Industrial Valve Pricing Can Be Sustained

Last month I showed how investors can generate investment ideas by using the Producer Price Index [PPI] report prepared monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The idea is that industries where prices are rising may contain companies where revenue will grow faster and/or margins will improve.

Of course, like any initial screen the PPI report is only a starting place. It is useful to generate ideas, but further research is needed to determine whether they are good ideas. This month, I do some of that further research.

One industry where the price increases have been flowing is industrial valves. Although the increases have been flattening out somewhat, the 8.3% year/year gain in September is still pretty sweet.

As I mentioned last month, some of the industrial valve makers include Flowserve (FLS), Crane (CR) and Curtiss Wright (CW). Let’s see how they are doing.

According to Flowserve, the PPI indicator is right on the money. Flowserve noted in its latest earnings report that its Flow Control Division’s “gross margin of 35.6% for the second quarter of 2007 was substantially higher than the second quarter of 2006, up 140 basis points. This increase was principally due to improved absorption on higher sales, the implementation of various Continuous Improvement Programs and cost reduction initiatives and improved pricing.” With sales up 13%, bookings up 15%, and pricing remaining strong it looks like the trends could continue for some time.

Crane is also doing well. Crane’s Fluid Handling segment saw a 13% gain in sales and a 30% increase in backlog in the latest quarter. However, “Margins remained at 12% reflecting more price competitive project work and investments in new products and systems to support future growth.” That “price competition” isn’t doing any damage yet, but it could. It may be especially important to watch the PPI reports on a continuing basis to find the right time to get out of a position before the eventual loss of pricing power is picked up in an earnings report three months later.

For Curtiss Wright’s Flow Control division, “Sales for the second quarter of 2007 were $163.2 million, up 26% over the comparable period last year due to solid organic growth and the contribution from the 2006 and 2007 acquisitions. Sales from the base businesses increased 14% in the second quarter of 2007 as compared to the prior year period.” Profitability declined primarily due to cost overruns on a Navy project, but the company noted that margins were also impacted by “labor inefficiencies, business consolidation costs, and higher material costs experienced within our oil and gas market.” The stock has rallied on strong results and increased guidance from its other divisions, however.

After taking a closer look at the three valve makers, I think Flowserve may be the best way to play the PPI report. For one thing, valves and related products make up a larger part of its revenue. As a purer play, the pricing information conveyed from valve PPI is more relevant. It’s true that the better performance has not gone unnoticed by the stock market, which has boosted FLS shares more than those of CW or CR in the last couple of years. However, based on the continued strong pricing environment it looks like that strong performance could be sustained.

Disclosure: Author is long UNITED STS OIL FD LP UNITS (USO) at time of publication.