Advertisement
U.S. markets closed
  • S&P 500

    5,254.35
    +5.86 (+0.11%)
     
  • Dow 30

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • Nasdaq

    16,379.46
    -20.06 (-0.12%)
     
  • Russell 2000

    2,124.55
    +10.20 (+0.48%)
     
  • Crude Oil

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • Gold

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • Silver

    25.10
    +0.18 (+0.74%)
     
  • EUR/USD

    1.0799
    +0.0006 (+0.05%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.2060
    +0.0100 (+0.24%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2635
    +0.0012 (+0.10%)
     
  • USD/JPY

    151.1960
    -0.1760 (-0.12%)
     
  • Bitcoin USD

    70,362.26
    -879.38 (-1.23%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • FTSE 100

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • Nikkei 225

    40,369.44
    +201.37 (+0.50%)
     

Here's Why Fortive (FTV) Deserves a Place in Your Portfolio

Fortive Corporation FTV is currently a well-performing technology stock and a rise in share price and strong fundamentals signal its bullish run. Therefore, if you haven’t taken advantage of the share price appreciation yet, it’s time you add the stock to your portfolio.

The company has performed extremely well so far this year and has the potential to carry on the momentum in the near term.

Here are a few reasons why the stock is worth considering.

An Outperformer

A look at the company’s price trend reveals that the stock has had an impressive run on the bourse year to date. Fortive gained 30.7%, significantly outperforming the S&P 500’s rally of 11.7%.

Solid Rank & VGM Score

Fortive currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and has a VGM Score of B. Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 offer the best investment opportunities for investors. Thus, the company appears to be a convincing investment proposition at the moment.

Northward Estimate Revisions

For the current year, 11 estimates moved north over the past 60 days versus no southward revisions, reflecting analysts’ confidence in the company. Over the same period, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year increased 1%.

Positive Earnings Surprise History

Fortive has an impressive earnings surprise history. The company outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering a positive average earnings surprise of 5.8%.

Strong Growth Prospects

The company’s Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2017 earnings of $2.79 reflects year-over-year growth of 11.1%. Moreover, earnings are expected to register 8.8% growth in 2018. The stock has long-term expected earnings per share growth rate of 9.6%.

Fortive Corporation Price and Consensus

Fortive Corporation Price and Consensus | Fortive Corporation Quote

Solid Growth Drivers

Fortive has a well-diversified product portfolio which consists of professional and engineered products, software and services. These products are sold to a variety of end markets with secular tailwinds such as communications & networking, sensing, traffic management, and franchise distribution, among others. This ensures consistent top-line performance and indicates potential for improvement.

Fortive’s foray into the Cloud computing segment is very encouraging. The recent acquisition of eMaint Enterprises by its subsidiary, Fluke and the acquisition of Global Traffic Technologies has accelerated Fortive’s push into the rapidly growing cloud computing market. The deal provides cloud/SaaS solutions for asset and equipment management mainly for industrial applications.

Per research firm Gartner, the worldwide public cloud services market is anticipated to increase 18% in 2017 to $246.8 billion, up from $209.2 billion in 2016. SaaS is anticipated to grow 20.1% to reach $46.3 billion in 2017 from $38.6 billion in 2016. Given the growth potential of the market, Fortive’s increased focus in this area is a big positive. Currently, cloud services comprise approximately 5–10% of Fortive’s total sales, which is likely to increase over time.

Management is focused on improving gross and operating margins. The company is making efforts to improve its existing portfolio and acquire businesses over time that will aid its top- and bottom-line trajectory.

The company’s Fortive Business System (“FBS”), which is a set of tools that include voice of the customer, value stream mapping, Kaizen basics, lean conversion, accelerated product development, daily management and problem solving is aimed at expanding the company’s operating margins. Fortive has also been taking restructuring actions, which will help the company lower its cost structure and enable it to generate strong margins.

Key Picks

Other stocks worth considering in the broader technology sector include Activision Blizzard, Inc. ATVI, Applied Materials, Inc. AMAT and Lam Research Corporation LRCX, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Long-term earnings per share growth rate for Activision, Applied Materials and Lam Research is projected to be 13.6%, 17.1% and 17.2%, respectively.

More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!

It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.

Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. 

Click here for the 6 trades >>


Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Activision Blizzard, Inc (ATVI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Lam Research Corporation (LRCX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Fortive Corporation (FTV) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research

Advertisement