Asset sales enhance their focus and appeal

Article Excerpt

Both of these firms have sold some of their less-important operations and used the cash to buy back shares or increase your dividends. The sales will also let them boost shareholder value by focusing on their remaining businesses. Their prospects remain bright as more people shop online or work from home due to COVID-19. NORTONLIFELOCK INC. $20 is a buy. The stock (Nasdaq symbol NLOK; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares o/s: 600.4 million; Market cap: $12.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.9; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.nortonlifelock.com) gives you a stake in the newly renamed Symantec following the sale of the company’s Enterprise Security business to Broadcom (Nasdaq symbol AVGO) for $10.7 billion. NortonLifeLock used the cash to pay investors a $12.00-a-share special dividend. It also increased your regular quarterly dividend by a whopping 66.7%, to $0.125 a share. The new annual rate of $0.50 yields a solid 2.5%. The company now has two main businesses: Norton computer antivirus software for individuals; and LifeLock identity-theft…