You can expect more spinoffs in 2021

Article Excerpt

The stock market rebound from the March 2020 downturn at the start of the pandemic spurred several spinoff announcements. More announcements have followed in the year since. Here are two recent spinoffs (one completed, one upcoming) that we like. VERINT SYSTEMS INC. $49 is a spinoff buy. The company (Nasdaq symbol VRNT; Manufacturing Sector; Shares outstanding: 65.8 million; Market cap: $3.2 billion; No dividend paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.verint.com) makes software that helps corporations automate some of their customer engagement efforts through the use of intelligent virtual assistants. On February 1, 2021, Verint completed its spinoff of COGNYTE SOFTWARE LTD. $30 (Nasdaq symbol CGNT; Manufacturing Sector; Shares outstanding: 65.8 million; Market cap: $2.0 billion; No dividend paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.cognyte.com). Shareholders received one share of Cognyte for every share they held in Verint. The spinoff’s security analysis software aims to let governments and corporations successfully identify, neutralize and prevent cybersecurity and other online threats. Right now, it has over 1,000 clients. Pure-play Verint is a spinoff buy. Cognyte…