Activist targets: 2 buys & 1 sell

Article Excerpt

OWENS-ILLINOIS INC. $19 (New York symbol OI; Shares outstanding: 159.3 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion; No dividend paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.o-i.com) is the world’s largest manufacturer of glass bottles. Based in Ohio, it has 78 plants in 23 countries, including the U.S. and Canada. New York-based hedge fund Atlantic Investment Management, which owns almost 5.93% of the company’s shares, wants the Owens-Illinois to sell off its European business and use the proceeds to buy back at least $1 billion of its shares. it also wants the company to repay $2 billion of its debt and begin to offer a quarterly dividend of $0.15 a share. Based on today’s share price, that would result in a yield of 3.2%. Owens-Illinois has yet to respond to Atlantic’s demand. Meanwhile, it’s cutting costs and has a strong presence in high-growth markets such as Latin America and Asia. As a result, the company’s projected earnings should rise from $2.75 a share in 2018 to $3.00 in 2019…