Honeywell International announced that it has acquired Australia-based technology and software as a service (SaaS) company, Sine Group, in an effort to enhance its cloud-based mobile products. However, the multinational conglomerate did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction.
In addition, Honeywell (HON) announced that it is keeping its financial guidance for 2020 unchanged.
Sine Group provides visitor management, workplace and supply chain solutions that are accessible through mobile devices. Honeywell said, “Sine's technologies will support a cloud-based mobile platform for Honeywell Forge, Honeywell's enterprise performance management offering, and Sine's software will augment Honeywell's Connected Buildings offerings with expanded safety, security and compliance capabilities.” (See HON stock analysis on TipRanks)
On Nov. 24, Robert W. Baird analyst Peter Arment raised the stock’s price target to $221 (4.3% upside potential) from $167 and reiterated a Buy rating. Arment also raised his earnings estimates for 2022-2023 period stating that the quick growth along with cost-saving initiatives could boost earnings over the long run.
Currently, the Street has a cautiously optimistic outlook on the stock. The Moderate Buy analyst consensus is based on 9 Buys and 6 Holds. The average price target stands at $203.64 and implies downside potential of about 3.9% to current levels. Shares were up by 19.7% year-to-date.
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General Motors plans to invest $76 million in its two US manufacturing plants to boost the production capacities of its Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks.
GM (GM) intends to inject $70 million in its Tonawanda, New York engine factory and over $6 million in its Parma, Ohio metal stamping facility. According to the company, “The Tonawanda investment will be used to increase capacity on the engine block machining line and the Parma investment will be used to construct four new metal assembly cells to support increased truck production volumes.”
“GM continues to invest to strengthen our core business and respond to growing customer demand for our full-size pickups,” said GM's Phil Kienle. “Our Tonawanda and Parma teams are dedicated to building world-class products for our customers and these investments reflect our confidence in these teams.” (See GM stock analysis on TipRanks)
Last month, Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner raised the stock’s price target to $48 (15.3% upside potential) from $43 and reiterated a Buy rating. Rosner pointed out that GM’s increased investment plan hints at its strategy of accelerating electric vehicles rollout.
Currently, the Street has a bullish outlook on the stock. The Strong Buy analyst consensus is based on 10 Buys and 1 Hold. The average price target stands at $51 and implies upside potential of about 22.5% to current levels. Shares have increased 13.7% year-to-date.
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Needham downgraded Pluralsight's stock rating to Hold from Buy and withdrew its $25 price target, citing Vista Equity Partners' "low" offer to buy the online education-software company.
The rating change comes after Pluralsight (PS) on Dec. 14 agreed to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners in an all-cash deal of $20.26 per share. As part of the transaction, private-equity firm Vista, in partnership with its institutional co-investors, will acquire all outstanding shares of Pluralsight, valuing the deal at $3.5 billion. Following the completion of the deal, Pluralsight will become a privately-held company.
Needham analyst Scott Berg said, “While we acknowledge the company has had operational challenges over the last 18 months between scaling its sales operations and the COVID backdrop freezing corporate learning budgets, we are big believers the PS platform is a very unique and highly strategic asset, leading us to view this acquisition price as low.”
Berg added, “We view the purchase valuation, at roughly 7.2x EV/sales on our FY21 estimate as good for Vista, less so for PS shareholders, and one not capturing the expectations of a recovering demand environment in FY21. Early management commentary suggests a thorough sale process, which implies a superior offer is unlikely.”
In addition to Needham, KeyBanc and Piper Sandler also downgraded the stock to Hold. Shares closed 6.4% higher on Monday, following the deal. (See PS stock analysis on TipRanks).
Like Berg, most of the Street is sidelined on the stock. The Hold analyst consensus is based on 9 Holds, 2 Buys and 1 Sell. The average price target stands at $20.05 and implies that the shares are more than fully priced at current levels. Shares have gained 17.3% year-to-date.
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Trinseo announced the acquisition of Arkema’s acrylics businesses – polymethyl methacrylates (PMMA) and activated methyl methacrylates (MMA) - for a total consideration of $1.36 billion. The manufacturer of plastics, synthetic rubber and latex binder expects the transaction to close in mid-2021.
Trinseo (TSE) said that the transaction will complement and expand its existing product lines across multiple end markets including the automotive, medical and consumer electronics, building and construction.
The company expects the acquisition to be accretive to 2022 adjusted EPS. It also projects the transaction to generate $50 million in cost synergies and additional $25 million in IT-related productivity savings. (See TSE stock analysis on TipRanks)
Trinseo intends to fund the transaction with $250 million of available cash and the remaining through new debt financing. Furthermore, the company decided to reduce its quarterly dividend payment to $0.08 per share from $0.40 and suspend its share buyback program “to prioritize leverage reduction and preserve financial flexibility.”
Following the company’s announcement, Alembic Global analyst Hassan Ahmed reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a price target of $40 (4.8% downside potential). In a note to investors, Ahmed wrote, “we see the purchase price for this high margin business as being reasonable and also feel the deal could be highly accretive provided the stated synergies are achieved.”
Meanwhile, the rest of the Street is sidelined on the stock. The Hold analyst consensus is based on 3 Holds, 2 Buys and 1 Sell. The average price target stands at $37.67 and implies downside potential of about 10.3% to current levels. Shares have increased by 12.9% year-to-date.
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Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) announced a 14.9% hike in its quarterly dividend to $0.85 per share from $0.74. The pharmaceutical company said that the new dividend is for the first quarter of 2021 and will be paid on Mar. 10, 2021, to shareholders of record as of Feb. 12, 2021.
Eli Lilly’s annual dividend of $3.40 per share now reflects a dividend yield of 2.2%.
Earlier this month, Eli Lilly joined hands with insurer UnitedHealth Group to conduct a pragmatic study that seeks to treat high-risk COVID-19 patients with investigational antibody treatment, bamlanivimab, in order to reduce the severity of illness and hospitalizations. (See LLY stock analysis on TipRanks)
On Dec. 10, Wolfe Research analyst Tim Anderson upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy and lifted the price target to $183 (15.9% upside potential) from $147, “partly on the back of tirzepatide de-risking following the first (positive) ph3 read out.”
Meanwhile, the Street has a cautiously optimistic outlook on the stock. The Moderate Buy analyst consensus is based on 7 Buys and 3 Holds. The average price target stands at $172.80 and implies upside potential of about 9.4% to current levels. Shares have gained 20.2% year-to-date.
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