Earnings Watch: 10 Chemical Stocks

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Minerals Technologies (MTX), Ashland (ASH), Solutia (SOA), and PolyOne (POL) are among 10 chemical stocks expected to report robust quarterly earnings, according to analysts polled by Bloomberg. Moreover, these stocks have upsides ranging from 2%-32%.

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10. Georgia Gulf (GGC) is a manufacturer and international marketer of two integrated chemical product lines: chlorovinyls and aromatics. The chlorovinyls family includes chlorine, caustic soda, vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), vinyl resins and vinyl compounds, while the aromatics products are cumene, phenol and acet. The stock has gained 84% during the past one year and 16% in the last one month.

The company is expected to report its first quarter 2011 results on May 5. Total revenue is forecast to increase 16.6% to $736.2 million from $631.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Net income is seen at $20.2 million or 60 cents per share, as opposed to a loss of $19 million or 56 cents per share reported in the first quarter of 2010.

During Feb. 2011, the company acquired Exterior Portfolio, a U.S. manufacturer and marketer of siding products for approximately $72 million. The acquisition was funded out of cash on hand and the company expects it to be accretive in 2011. Furthermore, Georgia Gulf recently revealed that it expects to report EBITDA at the top end of its previous guidance range of $245-$265 million.

Of the six analysts covering the stock, 50% recommend it a buy, while 33% rate it a hold. On average, analysts expect an upside of 2% to $38.20 in value from current levels. Moreover, analysts at BB&T upgraded the stock to buy from hold with a price target of $45.

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