Newell puts its savings to work

Article Excerpt

Newell’s shares are up about 13% since the start of 2012. That’s more than double the S&P 500 Index’s 4.9% rise. And we think the company has even bigger gains ahead. That’s because Newell’s latest restructuring has made it much more efficient, and it’s using the cash it’s saving to develop topselling products, buy back shares and raise its dividend. NEWELL RUBBERMAID INC. $18 (New York symbol NWL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 289.9 million; Market cap: $5.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newellrubbermaid.com) makes plastic storage bins, tools, window blinds, pens and a number of other household items. Its top brands include Rubbermaid, Sharpie, Paper Mate, Parker, Graco, Irwin, Waterman and Levolor. The company has three divisions: Newell Consumer (which supplies 50% of Newell’s sales and 45% of its earnings); Newell Professional (35%, 40%) and Baby and Parenting (15%, 15%). Wal-Mart accounted for 11.0% of Newell’s sales in 2011. The company’s sales rose 1.0%, from $6.4…