Ahead Of The Bell: 'Buy' Rating On URS Reiterated

NEW YORK (AP) — An analyst on Thursday reiterated his "Buy" rating on shares of URS Corp., saying the engineering and construction contractor's increasingly diverse end markets and global presence should boost its value.

FBR analyst Alex Rygiel also maintained a $55 price target.

"We continue to believe URS is developing into a broad-based engineering and construction company, and we highlight its global presence, broad end-market exposure, and a lower risk profile that should lead to a higher multiple over time," the analyst said in a client note.

The analyst's comments came after the San Francisco-based company on Wednesday raised its 2009 full-year forecast.

URS now expects 2009 earnings per share, excluding one-time items, of $2.83 to $2.98 on revenue of $9.4 billion to $9.8 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, expect adjusted profit of $3.01 per share on revenue of $9.86 billion.

Rygiel said the company's guidance does not include a backlog of some $600 million in stimulus funding that was appropriated to its five federal sites due to the joint-venture nature of the contracts.