This spinoff continues to impress

Article Excerpt

OTIS WORLDWIDE CORP. $84 is a buy. The company (New York symbol OTIS; Conservative Growth Portfolio; Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 426.8 million; Market cap: $35.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Dividend yield 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.otis.com) is the world’s largest maker of elevators and escalators. Otis took its current form on April 3, 2020, when Raytheon Technologies (formerly United Technologies) spun off it as a separate firm. Investors received 0.5 of a share in Otis for each share they held. So far, the new stock has gained an impressive 90%. That’s partly because demand for its equipment has rebounded sharply since last year’s lockdowns, particularly in China. As well, Otis continues to expand its services business, which generates higher profit margins than equipment sales. New innovations like connecting its elevators to the Internet will also help prevent breakdowns. The company will probably earn $2.97 a share in 2021, and the stock trades at 28.3 times that estimate. That’s a reasonable…