Acquisition spurs Dun & Bradstreet

Article Excerpt

DUN & BRADSTREET CORP. $109 (New York symbol DNB; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares o/s: 37.0 million; Market cap: $4.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.dnb.com) is the world’s largest provider of credit reports on individual companies. Businesses use that information to make buying decisions and protect themselves from credit losses. In January 2017, Dun & Bradstreet paid $150 million for Avention Inc. It makes software, including the OneSource platform. That system collects company, industry and financial data from a variety of sources, including news articles, websites and regulatory filings. Clients then use the data to improve their direct-mail and online marketing campaigns. The Avention purchase helped lift the company’s revenue in the three months ended June 30, 2017, by 2.3%, to $408.4 million from $399.3 million a year earlier. Earnings rose 2.2%, to $1.40 a share from $1.37. Dun & Bradstreet is a buy. buy…