Acquisition should boost earnings

Article Excerpt

HP INC. $23 (New York symbol HPQ; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $36.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.hp.com) makes computers and printers. HP recently agreed to acquire Apogee Corporation. Based in the U.K., that firm helps corporate clients in Europe better manage their printing needs. Its services include supplying and replacing toner, and equipment replacement and maintenance. The company will pay 380 million British pounds (about $487 million) when it completes the purchase by the end of 2018. The deal will help HP sell more office printers and related equipment in Europe. Partly due to that purchase, HP expects its earnings to rise from $2.02 a share for the fiscal year ending October 31, 2018, to between $2.12 and $2.22 a share for fiscal 2019. The stock trades at a low 11.1 time the midpoint of the 2019 range. That reflects concerns over rising prices for memory chips and other components. HP…