Spinoff Spotlight: McKesson Corp.

Article Excerpt

MCKESSON CORP. $682 is a buy for aggressive investors. The company (New York symbol MCK; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 125.1 million; Market cap: $85.3 billion; Dividend yield: 0.4%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.mckesson.com) is the largest wholesale drug distributor in the U.S. and Canada. The company now plans to spin off its medical-surgical division as a separate, publicly traded company. This business distributes surgical supplies, such as gloves, needles and laboratory equipment, to over 340,000 hospitals, doctors’ offices and clinics in the U.S. It accounts for 3% of the company’s total revenue. The spinoff will let McKesson better focus on its more-profitable operations, such as distributing cancer drugs and other specialty medicines. The company has not yet announced the terms, but will probably complete the transaction in 2026. Meantime, McKesson’s earnings in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026 will likely rise 13% to $37.25 a share. The stock trades at a reasonable 18.3 times that forecast. The $2.84 dividend yields 0.4%. McKesson is a buy. buy…