The Motley Fool Take

Crane maker Manitowoc (NYSE: MTW) has been performing pretty well, but its shares have taken a beating. That presents an opportunity for long-term investors.

The crane business has bounced back strongly after the financial crisis. In Manitowoc’s fourth quarter, sales growth hit the highest year-over-year rate since 2007, and new orders climbed to levels last seen in 2008.

The company kicked off 2012 on a solid note, too, with the division’s first-quarter backlog value reaching its highest level since the recession. A recovery seems to be under way, with data from the U.S. Census Bureau finding the dollar value of total “construction put in place” in March and February 6 percent and 5.8 percent higher, respectively, than last year.

Manitowoc’s other business, food-service equipment, seems poised for a good year, too, thanks in part to new products.

The company does carry a lot of debt, but it has initiatives in place to reduce that. Its growth plans are robust as it expands in developing markets; the proportion of revenue Manitowoc is generating from Asian markets has doubled over the last five years. It recently became the first company to make rough-terrain cranes in Brazil. The time is ripe, as the nation gears up for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics. Give this stock some consideration. ¦