document: Get In On The Ground Floor Of Plastics With Kraton Kraton manufactures styrenic block copolymers The global growth story is not slowing if the chemical companies are any indication . Kraton Performance Polymers -LRB- KRA - Snapshot Report -RRB- saw sales volume rise 10 % in the fourth quarter of 2010 and expects the growth story to continue in 2011 . This Zacks # 1 Rank -LRB- strong buy -RRB- is still cheap , trading at just 11 times forward estimates . Kraton manufactures engineered polymers and styrenic block copolymers -LRB- SBCs -RRB- . These products are used across a wide range of products such as adhesives , coatings , personal care products , sealants and lubricants , footwear products , paving and roofing products . It is a global company with customers in over 60 countries and manufacturing facilities in 5 plants in Germany , France , Brazil , Japan and Ohio . Kraton Surprised By 7.3 % Special Offer : Curtis Hesler told his subscribers to buy Silver Wheaton -LRB- SLW -RRB- at $ 4 in 2008 . It hit $ 42 in December . Nice score ... but what now , back up the truck or bail while you still can ? Click here for an important new alert in Professional Timing Service . On March 2 , Kraton reported its fourth quarter results and surprised by 3 cents a share . Earnings per share were 44 cents compared to the 41 cents consensus . The company lost 7 cents in the year ago period . This was the 4th consecutive beat but the company only went public in the fourth quarter of 2009 so there is a limited earnings history . Still , it 's a nice track record to start out beating 4 out of 5 quarters . Sales jumped 21 % to $ 288 million mainly due to higher sales volume which rose 10 % and price increases put into affect in response to rising raw material costs . Revenue rose in each of the company 's segments with the largest , Advanced Materials , seeing a 23 % gain to $ 92 million . Even the Paving and Roofing segment saw growth of 31 % to $ 64 million , boosted by increased roofing volume in Europe , of all places , and even in North America . Price increases were enacted to offset higher monomer costs . Paving was weaker , however , especially in North America where there was a lack of funding for infrastructure projects . For the full year , sales volume climbed 18 % and revenue soared 33 % to $ 1.2 billion versus 2009 . The revenue increase was again driven by higher sales volume and higher prices , boosted by rising material costs . Growth Expected to Continue in 2011 Kraton is bullish on 2011 . Based on existing trends , it expects first quarter sales volume to be 5 % to 7 % higher than the first quarter of 2010 . It also believes the pricing for its 3 primary feedstocks , on average , will be higher than the fourth quarter of 2010 . Zacks Consensus Estimates Jump Given the optimistic outlook , analysts moved to raise 2011 and 2012 estimates . In the last month , 4 estimates were revised higher for 2011 , pushing the Zacks Consensus up to $ 3.76 from $ 3.56 per share . That is earnings growth of 15.4 % in 2011 . 2 estimates have also moved higher for 2012 in the last 30 days . Analysts expect earnings of $ 4.20 in 2012 , which is earnings growth of 11.6 % . Still Value in the Shares Even with shares at new 52-week highs , Kraton still has attractive valuations . In addition to a low forward P/E , the company has a price-to-book ratio of 2.8 . It also has a stellar return on equity -LRB- ROE -RRB- of 24.5 % . Tracey Ryniec is the Value Stock Strategist for Zacks.com . She is also the Editor in charge of the market-beating Zacks Value Trader service . You can follow her at twitter.com/traceyryniec .
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