MCGRAW-HILL COMPANIES INC. $43 (New York symbol MHP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 301.3 million; Market cap: $13.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mcgraw-hill.com) plans to split into two separate, publicly traded companies. One of these new firms, McGraw-Hill Markets, will sell a variety of financial-information products. This business will include Standard & Poor’s, which provides credit ratings on bonds, and McGraw-Hill’s J.D. Power market-research firm. McGraw-Hill Markets will have annual revenue of $4 billion. International sales will account for 40% of that total. The other company, McGraw-Hill Education, will publish textbooks for schools and colleges. This business will have $2.4 billion of annual revenue....

ABB LTD. ADRs $18 (New York symbol ABB; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 2.3 billion; Market cap: $41.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.abb.com) is a leading maker of power technologies for utilities. The Switzerland-based company’s products include transformers, transmission systems and circuit breakers. ABB also makes automation systems and robotics. Clients in a wide range of industries use these systems to make their facilities more productive. ABB is taking advantage of the slow economy to make acquisitions. In January 2011, it paid $4.3 billion for Arkansas-based Baldor Electric Co., which makes electric motors and related products, such as conveyor belts, fans and pumps. Adding Baldor helped strengthen ABB’s North American operations. There is still plenty of room to grow in this region: right now, the Americas account for just 23% of ABB’s business. In the three months ended June 30, 2011, ABB’s revenue rose 27.8%, to $9.7 billion from $7.6 billion a year earlier. The gain was mainly due to Baldor’s contribution. If you exclude the positive impact of the low U.S. dollar on the company’s international operations, its revenue would have risen 17%. Earnings jumped 43.3%, to $893 million, or $0.39 per ADR (each American Depositary Receipt represents one ABB common share). A year earlier, the company earned $623 million, or $0.27 per ADR....

THE JONES GROUP INC. $10 (New York symbol JNY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 85.9 million; Market cap: $859.0 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.jonesgroupinc.com) has completed its $350-million purchase of Kurt Geiger, a U.K.-based company that owns and operates 49 shoe stores in Europe. It also sells its products in upscale department stores. Without unusual items, including costs related to the Kurt Geiger purchase, Jones would have earned $27.2 million, or $0.33 a share, in the three months ended June 30, 2011. That’s down 27.5% from $37.5 million, or $0.45 a share, a year earlier. Sales rose 3.2%, to $887.4 million from $859.6 million. That’s because acquisitions offset slower sales of its jeanswear and other clothing. Jones Group is a hold....

MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS INC. $43 (New York symbol MSI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 343.1 million; Market cap: $14.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.motorolasolutions.com) makes specialized equipment, such as bar-code scanners and radios for police and fire vehicles. It gets two-thirds of its revenue by selling its products to governments; The remaining third comes from businesses. The company’s earnings jumped 54.1% in the three months ended July 2, 2011, to $0.57 a share from $0.37 a year earlier. These figures exclude several unusual items, including costs related to the break-up of the old Motorola Inc. in January 2011. Revenue rose 6.1%, to $2.1 billion from $1.9 billion. Motorola Solutions now plans to pay quarterly dividends of $0.22 a share, for an annualized yield of 2.0%. It also aims to buy back $2 billion of its shares by the end of 2012. The company can easily afford this: it holds cash of $6.6 billion, or $19.39 a share. Its long-term debt is just $1.5 billion....

MCCORMICK & CO. INC. $46 (New York symbol MKC; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 132.3 million; Market cap: $6.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 2.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mccormick.com) is the world’s leading maker of spices, herbs, seasonings, flavourings, sauces and extracts. It sells its products to consumers, restaurants and industrial food processors. Top brands include McCormick, Club House, Zatarain’s, Ducos and Schwartz. The company likes to grow by purchasing other spice makers. Contributions from these acquisitions are the main reason why McCormick’s revenue rose 22.8%, from $2.7 billion in 2006 to $3.3 billion in 2010 (the company’s fiscal year ends November 30). Earnings rose 54.1%, from $1.72 a share (or a total of $231.9 million) in 2006 to $2.65 a share (or $356.3 million) in 2010.

Acquisitions work for McCormick

...

GENUINE PARTS CO. $50 (www.genpt.com) has acquired privately held Cobra Wire & Cable, Inc. Based in Pennsylvania, Cobra distributes insulated wires and cables to makers of telecom equipment, batteries and other electrical products, mainly under long-term supply contracts....

MCGRAW-HILL COMPANIES INC., $45.29, New York symbol MHP, rose 17% this week after it announced that it will split into two separate, publicly traded companies.

One of these new firms, McGraw-Hill Markets, will sell a variety of financial-information products. This business will include Standard & Poor’s, which provides credit ratings on bonds, and McGraw-Hill’s J.D. Power market-research firm. McGraw-Hill Markets will have annual revenue of $4 billion. International sales will account for 40% of that total.

The other company, McGraw-Hill Education, will publish textbooks for schools and colleges. This business will have $2.4 billion of annual revenue.

...

SASOL LTD. (ADR), $46.17, symbol SSL on New York, has developed a technology to convert coal and natural gas into motor fuels.

The company is now the world’s largest producer of fuel from coal at its facility at Secunda, South Africa. Sasol also produces synthetic fuels from natural gas at plants in Qatar and Nigeria. In addition, the company has substantial chemical-production interests, and produces oil and gas in Africa. Sasol is also South Africa’s third-largest coal producer.

In the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, Sasol’s revenue rose 16.1%, to $19.5 billion from $16.8 billion a year earlier (all figures in U.S. dollars). Earnings per ADR rose 27.4%, to $4.65 from $3.65. Higher oil prices were the main reason for these gains.

...

BELLATRIX EXPLORATION $4.29 (Toronto symbol BXE; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-266-8670; www.bellatrixexploration.com; Shares outstanding: 114.2 million; Market cap: $448.9 million; No dividends paid) produces oil and natural gas in Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan. Gas makes up about 62% of its output; the remaining 38% is oil. In the three months ended June 30, 2011, Bellatrix’s production rose 51.8%, to 11,643 barrels of oil equivalent per day (including natural gas) from 7,671 barrels. The company’s drilling success continues to add to its production: in the first half of 2011, it drilled 23 wells with a 100% success rate. Cash flow per share doubled in the latest quarter, to $0.22 from $0.11. The increased production and higher oil prices were the main reasons for the gains. The company’s long-term debt is $93.0 million, or a low 20.7% of its market cap....

BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS $20.52 (New York symbol BR: TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (201-714-3000; www.broadridge.com; Shares outstanding: 126.8 million; Market cap: $2.5 billion; Dividend yield: 3.1%) serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications; securities processing; and transaction clearing. Broadridge’s systems help its customers cut costs. Broadridge recently acquired privately held Paladyne Systems Inc., whose software helps over 150 hedge funds, mutual fund companies and wealth management firms manage their investments and lower their operating costs. Paladyne will retain its name and staff. Broadridge paid $76.5 million for Paladyne. That’s equal to 44% of the $175.8 million, or $1.37 a share, that it earned in the year ended June 30, 2011....