Spinoff and activist will benefit Glaxo

Article Excerpt

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has stayed in an narrow range of $33 to $48 in the past five years as it struggled with high costs and poor acquisitions. The company now plans to re energize its growth by spinning off its consumer business as a separate company. That should let it improve the profitability of its drug and vaccine operations. Investors will also benefit as activist investor Elliott Management keeps pushing Glaxo to boost shareholder value after the coming split. GLAXOSMITHKLINE PLC ADRs $39 is a spinoff buy. The company (New York symbol GSK; Manufacturing sector; ADRs outstanding: 2.7 billion; Market cap: $105.3 billion; Dividend yield: 5.4%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.gsk.com) is a U.K.-based global healthcare company that develops, makes and sells products in three main markets: pharmaceuticals (50% of 2020 revenue), vaccines (21%) and consumer healthcare (29%). Thanks to launch of several new drugs and vaccines, Glaxo’s revenue rose 22.3%, from 27.89 billion British pounds in 2016 to 34.10 billion pounds in…