We like FMC Corp. and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. for new buying

Article Excerpt

FMC CORP. $81 (New York symbol FMC; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 131.6 million; Market cap: $10.7 billion; Dividend yield: 2.0%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.fmc.com) makes crop protection chemicals, including insecticides, herbicides and fungicides. In October 2018, FMC set up its lithium business as a separate company called LIVENT CORP. $12 (New York symbol LTHM; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 146.0 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion; No dividends paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.livent.com). Under that plan, FMC sold 15% of its stake in Livent to the public in an initial public offering. The IPO raised $340 million through the sale of 20 million shares at $17 each. On March 1, 2019, FMC handed out its remaining Livent shares to its shareholders as a tax-deferred dividend. Investors received 0.935301 of a Livent share for each FMC share they held. FMC has gained 11% since the Livent IPO, and trades at a moderate 14.2 times its projected 2019 earnings of $5.70 a share. The $1.60 dividend yields 2.0%. Livent is down 29%…