Stanley Black & Decker Inc., New York symbol SWK, makes power and hand tools and security devices. It took its current form on March 12, 2010. That’s when Stanley Works bought the Black & Decker Corp. for about $4.5 billion in stock. Stanley shareholders own 50.5% of the combined company, and Black & Decker investors own the remaining 49.5%.

In 2010, the U.S. stock’s earnings per share rose 35.5%, to $4.12 from $3.04. This excludes one-time merger costs. Sales improved in both the U.S. and internationally, especially in Latin America. Sales in Canada and Australia declined slightly.

Adding Black & Decker’s pre-merger sales in early 2010 to sales of the merged company in 2010 results in $9.3 billion total sales for 2010. Stanley Black & Decker expects that figure to rise by 5% to 6% in 2011.

The company now expects efficiencies achieved by merging plants, distribution networks and purchasing systems will save $425 million annually by the end of 2012. That’s 21.4% higher than its original estimate.

As the U.S. economy improves, the company should benefit from a rebound in construction and related industries.

Due mostly to its increasing stock price, the U.S. stock’s dividend yield has fallen to 2.0%, from its historic average of 2.5%. Virtually all the company’s cash is held overseas. A dividend increase may have to wait until some of that cash can be repatriated without being subjected to punishing tax rates. The U.S. government does periodically offer a tax holiday to encourage repatriation.

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