Stanley sees higher profits ahead

Article Excerpt

STANLEY BLACK & DECKER INC. $107 (New York symbol SWK; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 153.2 million; Market cap: $16.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.stanleyblackanddecker.com) earned $234.1 million in the three months ended October 3, 2015, down 5.0% from $246.4 million a year earlier. The company spent $192.1 million on share buybacks in the quarter, so per-share earnings gained 1.3%, to $1.55 from $1.53. Sales fell 1.7%, to $2.8 billion from $2.9 billion. Stanley gets about half of its sales from outside the U.S., so if you exclude the negative impact of currency rates, sales rose 6%. Stronger demand for its hand tools offset lower sales of its building-security products and tools for industrial users. The company continues to benefit from a recent restructuring, while lower prices for steel and other raw materials are expanding its profit margins. As a result, Stanley now expects to earn $5.80 to…