Dover Divests Aftermarket Refrigeration Solutions Business

Dover Corporation (NYSE:DOV) recently sold the Chino branch of The AMS Group, a leading aftermarket refrigeration solutions and services provider business, to a private equity firm, PMC Capital Partners, LLC.

California-based AMS group is a division of Hill PHOENIX, Inc. Hill PHOENIX is a part of the Dover Food Retail business and a leading provider of commercial and industrial retail refrigeration solutions. It will continue to provide aftermarket services and solutions from its Phoenix, AZ, facility. However, terms of the deal have been kept under wraps.

Dover reported fourth-quarter 2019 adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations of $1.54. The figure improved 7.7% from the prior-year quarter’s $1.43 per share. Earnings also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.46.

Dover’s first-quarter 2020 results are likely to reflect its robust order backlog as well as the execution of margin targets. In addition, the Engineered Products segment is expected to grow on continued strength in waste handling, vehicle services, and the aerospace and defense business. Imaging & Identification is likely to grow on the improved outlook in Asia for both marking and coding, and textile printing. Refrigeration & Food Equipment is also anticipated to grow modestly this year.

The company projects current-year adjusted EPS at $6.20-$6.40 compared with the prior estimate of $5.75-$5.85. The guidance reflects a robust order backlog across all business segments, productivity and cost-containment initiatives, and execution of margin targets.

Dover has a long tradition of making successful acquisitions in diverse end markets. In 2019, the company acquired three businesses for a total consideration of $216.4 million. The company made these acquisitions to complement and expand its existing operations within the Fueling Solutions and Pumps & Process Solutions segments. This January, Dover completed the acquisition of Systech International. The buyout supports Dover’s marking and coding portfolio and enhances software and service revenues within Markem-Imaje. The deal is expected to be accretive to the first-year adjusted EPS.

In addition, the company is likely to gain from product digitization, e-commerce, new product development and inorganic investment in core business platforms. The company has initiated several growth and productivity capital projects and aims to invest in can-forming and heat-exchanger businesses to capture growing volumes and upgrade competitive capabilities.

Moreover, Dover’s cost-reduction initiatives are likely to boost its margins. The company has executed restructuring programs to better align costs and operations with the current market conditions through targeted facility consolidations, headcount reduction and other measures.

Price Performance

The stock has gained around 11.1% over the past year against the industry’s decline of 0.7%.

Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

Dover currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some other top-ranked stocks in the Industrial Products sector include Tennant Company (NYSE:TNC) , Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) and Sharps Compliance Corp (NASDAQ:SMED) . All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), at present. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Tennant Company has an expected earnings growth rate of 40.7% for the current year. The stock has appreciated 18% over the past year.

Graco has a projected earnings growth rate of 4.3% for 2020. The company’s shares have rallied 19% over the past year.

Sharps Compliance has an estimated earnings growth rate of a whopping 767% for the ongoing year. In a year’s time, the company’s shares have gained 39%.

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