Newell sharpens its focus to spur growth

Article Excerpt

NEWELL BRANDS INC. $40 (New York symbol NWL; Aggressive Growth and Income Portfolios, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 490.1 million; Market cap: $19.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newellbrands.com) makes a variety of household goods. Those include pens (by brands such as Sharpie and Paper Mate), coffee makers (Mr. Coffee) and baby strollers (Graco). It took its current form through the merger of Newell Rubbermaid and Jarden Corp. on April 15, 2016. Former Newell Rubbermaid shareholders now own 55% of the combined firm. Based on pro-forma figures supplied by Newell, the combined company’s sales rose 3.7%, to $13.3 billion in 2016 from $12.4 billion in 2015. If you disregard merger costs and other unusual items, earnings jumped 107.2%, to $1.22 billion from $590.7 million. Due to more shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 32.6%, to $2.89 from $2.18. Aggressive cost-cutting target Newell continues to cut costs following the Jarden acquisition. It now expects to chop $500 million annually…