New firms show the power of brands

Article Excerpt

New firms spun off from larger companies sometimes rise quickly, like Carrier and Otis. That’s probably because investors are familiar with their products and like their prospects. However, others such as Viatris and Kyndryl, are more obscure and need a few years to build a following. Even so, we feel those two laggards are worth holding. CARRIER GLOBAL CORP. $35 is a buy. This company (New York symbol CARR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 848.2 million; Market cap: $29.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.carrier.com) is a leading maker of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment. It also makes refrigeration equipment. In April 2020, Raytheon Technologies Corp. (New York symbol RTX) spun off Carrier and Otis (see right) as separate companies. For each share they held, investors received 0.5 of a share in Otis and 1 share in Carrier. In January 2022, Carrier sold its Chubb Fire & Security business for $2.9 billion. Based in the U.K., Chubb…