Becton surges with Bard

Article Excerpt

BECTON DICKINSON & CO. $259 (New York symbol BDX; Conservative Growth Portfolio; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 267.6 million; Market cap: $69.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.7; Dividend yield: 1.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bd.com) is a leading maker of medical devices such as stents, catheters, needles, surgical tools, drainage and incontinence devices, and products for collecting and shipping specimens. The stock has jumped 19% since the start of 2018. That’s largely due to its acquisition of rival medical device maker C.R. Bard (old New York symbol BCR) for $25.0 billion in cash and shares. In Becton’s fiscal 2018 third quarter, ended June 30, 2018, its revenue jumped 41.0%, to $4.3 billion from $3.0 billion a year earlier. Excluding Bard, revenue rose 5.5%. Becton expects the elimination of overlapping operations will let it cut $300 million from its annual costs starting in fiscal 2020. Thanks to those savings and strong growth in emerging markets, earnings in the quarter jumped 48.6%, to $798 million from $537 million. Due…