Vontier should follow Fortive’s path

Article Excerpt

As we often point out, new spinoff firms tend to move sideways for the first year or two until they build up a following among brokers and investors. A good example is Fortive, a 2016 spinoff from Danaher, one of this newsletter’s earliest recommendations. Fortive’s stock made little progress in its first year as a separate company, but it’s now up about 60%. Fortive itself has now spun off one of its businesses as Vontier. Since the split in 2020, the new automotive-related business has seen its stock price drop 4%. Still, we feel it will move higher over the next few years. FORTIVE CORP. $67 is a spinoff buy. The company (New York symbol FTV, Manufacturing sector Shares outstanding: 351.4 million; Market cap: $23.5 billion; Dividend yield: 0.5%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.fortive.com) has three main divisions: Intelligent Operating Solutions (43% of revenue, 49% of earnings) makes testing gear that helps industrial customers improve the reliability of their machinery; Precision Technologies (36%, 34%) makes electrical testing equipment and sensors; and Advanced…