Baxter raises its savings target

Article Excerpt

BAXTER INTERNATIONAL INC. $76 (New York symbol BAX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 511.1 million; Market cap: $38.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.5; Dividend yield: 1.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.baxter.com) makes a variety of medical devices, including intravenous pumps and kidney-dialysis equipment. The company continues to benefit from a multi-year restructuring plan it began in 2015. The plan cut $1.0 billion from the company’s annual expenses in 2018. Baxter now expects those savings to reach $1.2 billion when it completes the plan by the end of 2023. The stock trades at 23.2 times the $3.28 a share it will probably earn in 2019. That’s a reasonable multiple, as research spending (about 5% of revenue) hurts current earnings and inflates the company’s p/e. The $0.76 dividend yields 1.0%. Baxter is a buy. buy…