URS Corp (NYSE:URS)

Soros

Value pick. Consistant revenue growth quarter over quarter for last 5 quarters.

Many government contracts going out for stimulus.

With the recent market moodiness, I was poking around the screener, taking a look at companies with a high cash/share value. The idea was to find high-growth, low-debt, high-performing companies that are well insulated from a double-dip recession, or could use their excess cash for either stock repurchases, or acquisitions, should the recession drag on, or turn worse (double-dip, or full-blown depression). The screen I used was:
Cash Per Share: $8.00+
Rev. Growth Rate (last 3 Yrs): 20.00+
EPS Growth Rate (last 3 Yrs): 8.00+
Current Ratio: 2.00+

Interestingly, I got a lot of past Rule Breaker picks in the list, and a few new ones I've never come across, including this one. Summary: this company is well insulated against risk, and has a solid, three-year track record.

Government spending will really help this one out. Signed a $350M defense contract and Obama is all about nuclear energy. Buy it below $50.

The first people to be paid when it comes to nuclear energy. Then they will collect money on maintenance of the infrastructure.

Best engineering and environmental firm, with the new Obama budget, it's posed to have a big share in infrastructure investment. Obama's plan for nuclear investment coupled with the acquisition of the Washington Group, a big player in nuclear energy, should bode well. Also, being domestic heavy with the slowdown in China, it should be ahead of its rivals.

I survived the November plunge and March plunge nearly unscathed due in a large part to having a very large weighting in 2 stocks – FSC and URS.
I sold 2/5 of the position way too early between $38-40. Still holding the rest of my original purchase at $26.48…and I plan to for a while.
URS (to me) is the hands down best pure play engineering vehicle – period.
URS STOLE – and I reiterate – STOLE Washington Group in a merger a few years back. The combination of this company is truly amazing.
They get contract after contract after contract – it never stops – and they aren’t small either. Here is something from this week – today actually (not large but you can go back and look at the sheer number of contracts rolling in)
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/URS-venture-gets-pact-to-help-apf-15345899.html?.v=1
Here is an example of how great Washington is - they gobble up these 2billion dollar gigs that have high margins. The synergy between these two companies is very good.
http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/03/30/daily40.html?ana=yfcpc
The company has many ways that they generate revenues - for example they get management fee’s from ventures such as…
http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/03/30/daily20.html?ana=yfcpc
Here are some numbers: (after the run its had – you would think the stock would be expensive….nope)
Price/Sales (ttm):0.37
Price/Book (mrq):1.02
This is still insanely low – and URS has a TON of valuable equipment with zero or nearly zero value on the books.
Profit Margin (ttm):2.38%
Operating Margin (ttm):4.21%
You could argue these are nothing special – but the sheer amount of revenue URS does makes this company print money. However – I would note that I expect the Washington acquisition to increase margins steadily over the foreseeable future.
Revenue (ttm):10.35B
Revenue Per Share (ttm):126.502
Qtrly Revenue Growth (yoy):11.60%
Gross Profit (ttm):477.51M
EBITDA (ttm):580.87M
Book Value Per Share (mrq):45.269001
Operating Cash Flow (ttm):582.08M
Levered Free Cash Flow (ttm):337.20M
This company is a BEAST. A true Silverback….which I might add is the real king of the jungle.
Look at what this company does :
URS Corporation provides engineering, construction, and technical services to the power, infrastructure, Federal, and industrial and commercial market sectors in the United States and internationally. Its services for power sector include the plan, design, engineer, construct, retrofit, and maintain a range of power-generating facilities; and the systems that transmit and distribute electricity, as well as the development and installation of clean air technologies that reduce emissions.
Provides services for infrastructure sector comprises program management, planning, architect, engineering, general contracting, construction, and construction management for surface, air, and rail transportation networks; ports and harbors; and water supply, and treatment and conveyance systems. Its services for Federal sector consists of program management; planning, design, and engineering; systems engineering and technical assistance to construction and construction management; operations and maintenance; and decommissioning and closure.
URS services for industrial and commercial sector includes front-end studies, engineering and process design, procurement, construction and construction management, facility management, and operations and maintenance, as well as due diligence, permitting, compliance, environmental management, pollution control, health and safety, waste management, and hazardous waste remediation.

It’s a mouth full – but nearly each and every segment of this company is great in my view.
The outlook is very bright – and the fact that URS is a one stop shop – and a reputation for being the best in the business in several of these areas.
I see margins improving along with overall growth in revenues.
URS is also a one stop shop for Obama to dump piles of cash on.
Technically the stock just took out its highs and is in a bullish formation. However I would use pullbacks as an entry point – and buy the stock in several separate orders.

Infrastructure play

a little late to the party on this one, but it still has upside. aging infustructure, Obama is throwing money at companies such as this one to try to jump start the economy and a back log of work that is almost 5 times the companies market cap and growing. WOW!

Stable sector of defense market.

Infrastructure planning & engineering.

Before you build something you have to engineer it.

Watch for the bump from increased infrastructure spending over the next 5+ years

Trading in the higher end of it's 52 week range. While they are involved in the construction industry they don't actually "do" the work. Design and project management is their specialty.

Given the current economic situation and the governments commitment to creating jobs through infrastructure it is the manufacturers, suppliers and the "doers" or actual construction companies that will reap the most from the infrastructure spending.

URS will continue to exist and even profit from this infrastructure spending but I believe they will not outperform the market. Probably a good long term slow climb and that's why I've only chosen my underperform for a year or so.

Give it 2 years, get 50% return

URS is a big player in large construction projects - including power plants in the US. Even if the economic conditions do not turn around for the near term, URS has plenty of business to keep them going for a long time..

This stock never gives anything back to the shareholder. They continue to dilute shares every chance they get, and even with their workload and acquisition attempts, still feels like an uphill battle to me when compared to more lucrative stock picks out there.

In my personal portfolio.