Maximus (MMS) Stock Falls on Lowered Earnings Outlook

Maximus (MMS) stock is plunging in midday trading on Thursday after the company lowered its 2016 earnings outlook.
By Amanda Albright ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Maximus (MMS) - Get Report stock is falling by 20.53% to $54.55 on heavy trading volume on Thursday, after the company reported its 2015 fourth quarter earnings results and lowered its 2016 earnings outlook. 

The Reston, VA-based government services provider lowered its 2016 earnings projections to a range between $2.40 per share and $2.70 per share, from $2.85 per share to $3.05 per share.

Before the market open today, Maximus reported fourth quarter earnings of 53 cents per share on revenue of $578.7 million. 

Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were expecting the company to report earnings of 52 cents per share on revenue $590.99 million. 

"While the slower-than-expected ramp-up of the U.K. Health Assessment Advisory Service contract resulted in a reduced earnings outlook for fiscal year 2016, we remain confident that we will bring about the necessary changes to put this start-up contract on a path to success, as we have done with many large start-up contracts in the past," CEO Richard Montoni said in a statement. 

So far today, 2.66 million shares of Maximus have traded, versus its 30-day average of about 345,000 shares. 

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates MAXIMUS INC as a Buy with a ratings score of A-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

We rate MAXIMUS INC (MMS) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, growth in earnings per share, reasonable valuation levels and good cash flow from operations. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows low profit margins.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: MMS

MMS

data by

YCharts

Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of Jim Cramer, TheStreet or any of its contributors.

Loading ...