Industrial clients need their products

Article Excerpt

AIR PRODUCTS & CHEMICALS INC. $162 (New York symbol APD; Manufacturing Sector; Shares outstanding: 218.0 million; Market cap: $35.3 billion; Takeover Target Rating: Low; Dividend yield 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.airproducts.com) is a global seller of gases extracted from the atmosphere (oxygen, nitrogen) and gases from other sources (hydrogen, helium). Its clients include oil and gas exploration firms, industrialequipment manufacturers, electronics makers and healthcare companies. On October 3, 2016, Air Products spun off its Versum Materials business (see right). Air Products shareholders got one share in the new company for every two shares they held. Air Products stock has risen 14% since the split. In addition to spinning off its electronics materials unit, Air Products also sold its performance materials business in January 2017 for $3.8 billion. Air Products & Chemicals • Has a number of expansion projects underway in Asia that will help it to gain market share in faster-growing regions • Due to complete the world’s largest industrial gas complex by late 2018,…