Spinoff Spotlight

Article Excerpt

HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL $138 (New York symbol HON; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 761.2 million; Market cap: $105.0 billion; Takeover Target Rating: Lowest; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.honeywell.com) is a diversified technology firm operating in four main segments: Aerospace (38% of sales); Home and B u i l d i n g (27%); Perf o r m a n c e Ma t e r i a l s (24%); and Safety and Productivity (11%). Honeywell is now the target of activist investors, including the Third Point LLC hedge fund, led by Dan Loeb. Third Point holds a substantial, but undisclosed, stake in the technology company. Activist investors continue to push Honeywell to spin off its Aerospace business. The operation supplies parts for Airbus and Boeing jets. It also makes aircraft engines. Aeropspace is the company’s biggest revenue generator, but its sales and profit margins fell last year. Sales will likely fall again in 2017. Third Point believes a spinoff would boost total…