I’m looking to take profits in Lindsay (LNN) here now that the stock is again above my $72 target price. So as of today April 8 I’m selling these shares out of Jubak’ Picks with a 19.8% gain since I added Lindsay to the portfolio on December 23, 2010.
On March 30 the company blew away projections for the second quarter of fiscal 2011 with earnings of 89 cents a share. That was up from 48 cents in the second quarter of fiscal 2010 and above analyst projections for 71 cents a share fore the quarter.
Revenue grew by 41% to $120 million in the quarter.
Revenue from irrigation systems grew a strong 35% from the second quarter of fiscal 2010. Revenue from the United States grew by 72% although international irrigation revenue slipped 14%.
But the big driver for the quarter’s earnings beat was the company’s infrastructure segment. Sales of such products as the Quickchange Movable Barrier, used in highway construction, climbed 65% from the second quarter of fiscal 2010. Gross margins at Lindsay climbed to 28.3% from 26% a year ago thanks to sales of higher margin infrastructure products.
It’s the uncertain prospects for that infrastructure business that leads me to recommend selling these shares. I think irrigation revenues are likely to continue to grow strongly in the year ahead as higher commodity prices give farmers more cash to invest in things such as tractors and irrigation systems. But the outlook for the company’s infrastructure segment is extremely uncertain given budget cuts at the state level in the United States and the winding down of any remaining stimulus at the federal level. (Not to speak of any potential cuts to infrastructure spending that result from the negotiations between House Republicans and Senate Democrats.)
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