World Fuel Services Corporation (INT), which sells marine, aviation and land fuel products and services to more than 6,000 locations, including airports, seaports and tanker truck loading terminals, in over 190 countries, continues to surprise on estimates.

On May 7, the company surprised for the fourth consecutive time reporting first-quarter 2009 earnings per share of 92 cents compared to analysts’ estimates of 79 cents for a beat of 16.46%.

Two out of three business segments saw a year over year increase in gross profit. The marine segment’s profit rose 28% compared to last year while the land segment gained 355% mainly due to the acquisition of the Texor business.

Only the aviation segment saw a decline, decreasing 9% year over year as economic conditions remained challenging in the aviation sector.

Covering analysts are bullish on 2009 as full year consensus estimates are up 7 cents to $3.17 per share in the last 60 days. The company is scheduled to report second quarter results on Aug 6.

Value Fundamentals

World Fuel Services is more expensive than when I last updated it on Mar 2. It is now trading at 12x forward earnings, but still a value stock, compared to 7x forward earnings in March. Its PEG ratio is still attractive at 0.89.

The company was a Zacks #1 Rank (strong buy) stock in March and is now a Zacks #2 Rank (buy) stock. World Fuel Services has an excellent 1-year return on equity (ROE) of 19.86%. The company also pays a dividend with a current yield of 0.80%.

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