Wall Street shines love on Sun Hydraulics

SARASOTA — Wall Street analysts have warmed up to Sun Hydraulics in the past few weeks, with shares of the company trading close to its 52-week high.

The Sarasota-based firm, which designs, manufactures and sells screw-in cartridge valves and manifolds used in hydraulic systems, closed March 14 at $42.62 — less than $4 off its 52-week high of $46.38. The stock trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol SNHY.

Chicago-based Zacks Investment Research was one the firms that recently boosted its outlook on Sun, going from neutral to outperform, according to the Analyst Ratings Network. Zacks set a price target of $45.80. Earlier in March another firm, Long Island, N.Y.-based EVA Dimensions, bumped up its rating of Sun from hold to overweight. And Robert W. Baird, a Milwaukee-based research investment firm, upgraded its opinion on Sun in February, from neutral to outperform.

Sun Hydraulics, with a market cap of $1.12 billion, reported a rise in quarterly sales and profits for the last quarter of 2013. Sales increased 13% over the 2012 fourth quarter, from $43.2 million to $49.1 million, while profits jumped 25%, from $6.7 million to $8.3 million.

“Sales were strong in the fourth quarter with growth in all geographic markets” Sun Hydraulics President and CEO Al Carlson says in an earnings release. “Operationally, we maintained healthy margins throughout the year.”