This medical device company beat analysts’ EPS estimates by $0.09 last quarter, and the shares were recently initiated at Deutsche Bank with a ‘Buy’ rating.
Becton Dickinson and Company (BDX)
From Wall Street Stock Forecaster
Becton Dickinson and Company BDX; Conservative Growth Portfolio; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average) operates in three segments: Medical makes a broad array of devices for hospitals, doctors’ offices and other clients in the health-care industry; Life Sciences sells products for collecting and shipping specimens as well as equipment for detecting diseases; and Interventional makes stents, catheters, needles, drainage and incontinence devices, and surgical tools.
On January 1, 2018, Becton completed its $25.0 billion cash-and-stock takeover of rival medical device maker C.R. Bard (old New York symbol BCR). Bard investors now own 15% of the combined company.
Excluding that acquisition, the company expects its revenue in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, to increase between 5.0% and 6.0%.
Becton also expects cost savings from the elimination of overlapping operations to help cut $300 million from its annual expenses by the end of the third year. Those savings will help it pay down the loans it needed to buy Bard. As of September 30, 2018, Becton’s long-term debt of $18.9 billion is a somewhat high 29% of its market cap.
The company should earn $12.10 a share in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019. The stock trades at 19.8 times that forecast, and Becton recently raised its quarterly dividend by 2.7%, to $0.77 a share from $0.75.
Becton Dickinson is a buy.
Patrick McKeough, Wall Street Stock Forecaster, www.tsinetwork.ca, 888-292-0296, February 2019