Topic: Growth Stocks

SYMANTEC CORP. $19 – Nasdaq symbol SYMC

SYMANTEC CORP. $19 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 680.0 million; Market cap: $12.9 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.symantec.com) said in 2014 that it would split into two publicly traded firms. One would keep the Symantec name and focus on antivirus and security software. The other, called Veritas Technologies, would focus on Symantec’s information-management business, which makes products for data backup and recovery.

However, the company instead decided to sell Veritas to the Carlyle Group (Nasdaq symbol CG) for $8.0 billion. Now Carlyle seems to be having trouble raising the funds to buy Veritas. As a result, Symantec and Carlyle have altered the deal’s terms.

Symantec will now receive $7.0 billion, including $6.6 billion in cash and $400 million in Veritas stock. It plans to complete the sale by the end of January 2016.

Of the total, Symantec plans to use $2 billion to buy back shares in the 18 months following the sale, including $500 million worth under an accelerated repurchase plan.

The sale proceeds will also let Symantec keep paying its $0.15 quarterly dividend, which yields 3.2% on an annualized basis.

Symantec was our #1 pick for 2015, and remains a buy.

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