Ahead Of The Bell: Met-Pro Upgrade At Brean Murray

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ¿ Investors should begin buying shares of Met-Pro Corp. since the shares have fallen back to a level that makes them a good value, an analyst said Monday.

Michael Gaugler of Brean Murray Carret & Co. upgraded his rating on the the Harleysville, Pa., manufacturer of pollution control technologies to "Buy" from "Hold" and set a $12 price target.

Met-Pro's third quarter results were slightly weaker than he expected, but its shares have pulled back enough for investors to jump in, he said.

Met-Pro closed at $9.24 Friday, down 14 percent from its most recent high of $10.80 on Aug. 21.

In addition, big-ticket orders have risen recently "and we believe there are opportunities across all its business units to secure substantive project sizes" in the range of $3 million to $5 million, Gaugler said in a client note.

Friday, Met-Pro said net income of $1 million, or 7 cents per share, was down from $3 million, or 20 cents per share, in the same period last year. Revenue of $19.8 million for the quarter ended Oct. 31 was down 29 percent from $28 million in the year-ago period.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected it to earn 12 cents per share on revenue of $22.6 million.

Gaugler said that despite the substantial drop in sales, overall margins held up "rather well."

"Met-Pro is proving itself to be very adept at managing its business through tough economic conditions," he said.

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