Kaman (KAMN) To Divest Distribution Segment To Littlejohn

Kaman Corporation (NYSE:KAMN) recently entered into a deal to divest its Distribution segment to Greenwich-based private equity firm — Littlejohn & Co., LLC’s (Littlejohn) for $700 million in cash. The completion of the deal is subject to customary closing conditions and projected to close in the third quarter of this year.

The segment to be divested is a major distributor of more than 6 million items to a strong customer base in almost all industries. Some of the notable items offered by the segment are bearings, electro-mechanical, power transmission, fluid power components, and automation and MRO supplies. Also, the segment is engaged in offering engineering, design and support for automation, electrical, hydraulic, linear as well as pneumatic systems. Notably, the Distribution segment, which reported net revenues of $1.1 billion in 2018, has an extensive presence across the United States and Puerto Rico with 2,200 employees.

Kaman anticipates receiving about $600 million in net proceeds from the deal. As noted by the company, the proceeds will be used to pay down about $100 million of debt, apart from boosting internal development efforts. As a matter of fact, this agreement marks a significant step toward the company’s portfolio transformation initiative and will enable it to focus more on its aerospace and engineered products businesses.

Kaman is well poised to gain from investments in organic growth initiatives, acquisitions, contract wins and disciplined capital deployment. Moreover, over the past three months, the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company has gained 9%, outperforming the 5.6% growth recorded by the industry it belongs to.

In addition, analysts have become increasingly bullish on Kaman. In the past couple of months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 earnings has trended up.

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks in the same space are Roper Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ROP) , IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) and Chart Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:GTLS) . While Roper sports a Zacks Rank #1, IDEX and Chart Industries carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Roper surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average positive earnings surprise being 8.43%.

IDEX surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average positive earnings surprise being 5.69%.

Chart Industries outpaced estimates thrice in the preceding four quarters, the average positive earnings surprise being 16.56%.

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