Spinoff spotlight: Becton Dickinson

Article Excerpt

BECTON DICKINSON & CO. $244 is a buy. The medical device maker (New York symbol BDX; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 283.9 million; Market cap: $69.3 billion; Dividend yield: 1.5%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.bd.com) spun off its Diabetes Care business in April 2022 as embecta Corp. (Nasdaq symbol EMBC). Investors received one share of embecta for every five common shares of Becton they held. As part of the spinoff, embecta paid $1.44 billion to Becton. In its fiscal 2023 first quarter, ended December 31, 2022, Becton’s revenue fell 2.8%, to $4.59 billion from $4.72 billion a year earlier. That decline was mainly due to lower demand for the company’s COVID-19 testing equipment as the pandemic eased. Factoring out those COVID products as well as currency rates, revenue improved 3.0%. If you disregard all unusual items, Becton’s earnings fell 6.5%, to $2.98 a share from $3.17. Higher costs for raw materials and pension expenses offset income tax savings. For all of fiscal 2023, Becton will probably earn $12.18…