Barrons.com reports that just a day after Illlinois Tool Works (ITW) raised earnings guidance for the second quarter, four insiders in the company began selling shares totaling about $18 million. The report notes that ITW’s increased guidance still fell a penny below the Street’s estimates.
The diversified industrial manufacturer has had a strong run-up in recent months, and is trading at about 25 times future earnings. Last week I expressed some concern regarding the raised outlook – in essence, don’t get too excited. After all, the company’s products are largely things a growing economy would need, if it were growing.
This is not to say I am jumping ship on ITW. Restructuring benefits, stable markets, and less acquisition headwind could allow the company to double their margins by the end of the year. The company also has a history of strong acquisitions. With reasonable debt levels it would not be surprising to see ITW use the downturn to buy good assets at cheap valuations.
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Peter J. Lazaroff
Monday, June 22, 2009
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