MAXIMUS, Inc. (MMS) recently hit a new 52-week high at $55.50 on strong Q4 results that included a 30% earnings surprise.
Company Description
MAXIMUS, Inc. provides operations program management and consulting services primarily to government agencies in the United States. The company was founded in 1975 and has market cap of $969 million.
First-Quarter Results
MAXIMUS reported better than expected Q4 results on Feb 4 that sent its share price to a new 52-week high. Revenue was up 19% to $202.4 million. Earnings also came in strong at 83 cents, 19 cents ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company has produced consistent results over the last year, beating in all four quarters by an average of 6 cents, or 9%.
MAXIMUS noted that it is sitting on a very strong sales pipeline of $1.6 billion, indicating strong demand for the company’s services moving forward. The MAXIMUS balance sheet also looks strong with a cash position of $127 million.
Estimates Up
The good quarter sent estimates higher, with the current year adding 31 cents to $3.41. The next-year estimate added 21 cents to $3.71, a solid 9% growth projection.
In spite of the recent gains, shares of MMS still look reasonably priced, trading with a P/E multiple of 16X, in line with the overall market.
The Chart
MMS has been trending higher since bottoming out in mid November of 2008 around $26. More recently, MMS jumped higher of the strong earnings surprise to hit a new 52-week high, take a look below.
Michael Vodicka is the Momentum Stock Strategist for Zacks.com. He is also the Editor in charge of the market-beating Zacks Surprise Trader Service. Zacks Investment Research
