Fred Poses plans to retire as American Standard Chief Executive in 2007



The analyst also said the company faces some challenges in 2007 including the appointment of a new chief executive to replace Fred Poses, who plans to retire, as well as possibly higher commodity prices and potentially lower demand for products. Businessman Fred Poses, the President of American Standard Co., served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Peru in the 1960's.

Fred Poses plans to retire as American Standard Chief Executive in 2007

American Standard Up on Stock Upgrade

Associated Press
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NEW YORK (AP) - Shares of American Standard Cos., a leading bath and kitchen products maker, rose in midday trading Tuesday after an analyst upgraded the stock, saying the company has insulated itself from rising commodity costs over the short term.

Shares climbed $1.30, or 3.3 percent, to $40.51 on the New York Stock Exchange with above-average trading volume. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $35.01 to $47.93 and is almost flat since the beginning of the year.

Analyst Nicholas P. Heymann with Prudential Equity Group LLC wrote in a note to clients that the Piscataway, N.J.-based company successfully insulated itself from rising copper and aluminum costs with its 18-month hedging program and by re-engineering some products to use less copper.

However, Heymann noted that the company could be vulnerable to commodity inflation in 2007.

The analyst upgraded the stock to "Neutral Weight" from "Underweight" and reaffirmed a target price of $39.

He raised his 2006 earnings forecast to $2.75 per share from $2.70 per share and estimates for 2007 to $3 per share from $2.90 per share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial predict, on an average, 2006 earnings of $2.76 per share and 2007 earnings of $3.10 per share.

Heymann said the near-term stock price could decrease if residential construction and remodeling slows. The analyst also said the company faces some challenges in 2007 including the appointment of a new chief executive to replace Fred Poses, who plans to retire, as well as possibly higher commodity prices and potentially lower demand for products.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

When this story was posted in July 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:




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