Use these spinoff updates to your benefit: Pfizer Inc., Bed, Bath & Beyond Inc. and Ingersoll-Rand Plc

Article Excerpt

PFIZER INC., $37.05, is a buy. Investors in the company (New York symbol PFE; Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 5.5 billion; Market cap: $203.8 billion; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSI Takeover Rating: Lowest; www.pfizer.com) will now benefit from the spinoff of its Upjohn business—the firm’s off-patent and generic drug unit. Those operations will then merge with Netherlands-based Mylan N.V. (New York symbol MYL) to form Viatris. Pfizer will hand its investors 0.12 of a share in the new company for every PFE share they hold. You’ll only be liable for capital gains tax when you sell your Viatris holdings. As a group, Pfizer investors will own 57% of the new firm, with Mylan shareholders holding the remaining 43%. The deal should lower Pfizer’s costs and improve its profitability in the face of declining prices for generic drugs. It also leaves the company to focus on growing its core business, which should spur gains for investors. The merger should close in mid-2020. Pfizer is poised to earn $2.82…