Bard targets home delivery for growth

Article Excerpt

C.R. BARD INC. $194 (New York symbol BCR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 73.7 million; Market cap: $14.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.2; Dividend yield: 0.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.crbard.com) has acquired Liberator Medical Holdings for $181 million. This firm distributes a variety of medical products such as urological catheters and diabetic supplies, directly to consumers’homes. Under the deal, Bard plans to expand the availability of its own medical devices. That should add $70 million to its annual sales of $3.4 billion, and $0.05 to $0.10 a share to its annual earnings in 2017; Bard will probably earn $9.97 a share in 2016. The stock trades at a reasonable 19.5 times that forecast. C.R. Bard is a buy. buy. …