Agilent is the better pick for new buying

Article Excerpt

Agilent Technologies is up 16% since spinning off its Keysight business on November 1, 2014. Keysight has gained 30% in that time. We continue to like the long-term prospects for both, but prefer Agilent for new buying. AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. $64 (New York symbol A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 321.8 million; Market cap: $20.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.7; Dividend yield: 0.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.agilent. com) makes specialized testing equipment, such as mass spectrometers, for medical research laboratories and industrial clients. Thanks to recent acquisitions and the launch of new products, the company earned $191 million in its fiscal 2017 third quarter ended July 31, 2017. That’s up 19.4% from $160 million a year earlier. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share gained 20.4%, to $0.59 from $0.49. Revenue rose 6.7%, to $1.11 billion from $1.04 billion. If you factor out new businesses and currency exchange rates, revenue improved 7.5%. For all of fiscal 2017, Agilent expects…