Key deal set to lift Russel dividend

Article Excerpt

RUSSEL METALS $34 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol RUS; Cyclical-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 62.3 million; Market cap: $2.1 billion; Dividend yield: 4.5%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.russelmetals.com) has paid regular quarterly dividends of $0.38 a share since the third quarter of 2014; the annual rate of $1.52 yields a high 4.5%. Russel and Japan’s Marubeni-Itochu Tubulars America have now agreed to combine their respective Canadian OCTG/line pipe businesses. These units sell pipe to oil and gas companies. The combined business of Russel’s Triumph Tubular & Supply unit and Marubeni-Itochu’s Hallmark Tubulars unit will operate as a newly incorporated company, TriMark Tubulars. Russel will contribute assets with a book value of about $111 million. In exchange, it will receive: (i) cash of approximately $79 million; (ii) preferred shares with a face value of $32 million and an annual dividend rate of 7%; and (iii) a 50% equity interest in TriMark. Russel Metals will also retain…