Topic: Growth Stocks

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, August 14, 2015

Article Excerpt

SYMANTEC CORP., $21.60, Nasdaq symbol SYMC, sells computer-security technology, including antivirus and email-filtering software, to businesses and consumers. In 2014, the company said it would split into two publicly traded firms. One would keep the Symantec name and focus on antivirus and security software and services. The other, called Veritas Technologies, would consist of Symantec’s information-management business, which makes products for data backup and recovery. However, the company has now decided to sell Veritas to a group of private investors for $8.0 billion. It expects to close the deal on January 1, 2016. The cash will let Symantec keep paying its $0.15-a-share quarterly dividend, which yields 2.8% on an annualized basis. The company will also add $1.5 billion to its share repurchase program, bringing the total to $2.6 billion, or 18% of its $14.7-billion market cap (the value of all outstanding shares). Meanwhile, in its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended July 3, 2015, Symantec earned $275 million, or $0.40 a share. That was…