Acquisition just adds to its appeal

Article Excerpt

DANAHER CORP. $176 is still our #1 Spinoff Buy for 2020. The company (New York symbol DHR; Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding 707.2 million; Market cap: $124.5 billion; Dividend yield: 0.4%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.danaher.com) is a leading maker of precision-testing equipment and tools. Its major customers include medical research labs and municipal water utilities. Main brands include Beckman Coulter, ChemTreat, Pantone and KaVo Kerr. Danaher has now completed its purchase of the BioPharma division of General Electric Co. (New York symbol GE). It paid $20.7 billion for that business, now called Cytiva, which makes lab equipment for pharmaceutical companies developing new drugs. Expanding by acquisition adds risk, but Danaher has a strong history of improving the profitability of new businesses, and sometimes spinning them off. As well, Cytiva will add $3.3 billion to Danaher’s annual revenue of $18.0 billion. The company had to borrow the cash it needed for this purchase. Even so, its long-term debt of $22.7 billion (as of April 3, 2020)…