BRIGGS & STRATTON CORP. $20 (New York symbol BGG; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 46.7 million; Market cap: $934.0 million; Priceto-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.briggsandstratton.com) is buying Allmand Bros., a privately held Nebraska firm that makes portable lighting products and heaters for construction companies and other industrial users. The purchase will cut Briggs’reliance on weather-dependent products, like lawn mower engines and snow blowers.
The company will pay $62 million for Allmand when it completes the purchase in the next few weeks. The acquisition will add $80 million to Briggs’annual sales.
To put these figures in context, the company’s sales fell 0.2% in its 2014 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2014, to $1.859 billion from $1.862 billion in fiscal 2013. The lack of major storms in 2014 hurt sales of portable power generators. Overall earnings declined 13.4%, to $39.0 million from $45.1 million. Per-share earnings fell 11.8%, to $0.82 from $0.93, on fewer shares outstanding.
The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 4.2%, to $0.125 a share from $0.12. The new annual rate of $0.50 yields 2.5%.
Briggs & Stratton is still a hold.
