John Burbank (Trades, Portfolio) is the chief investment officer of Passport Capital LLC, the global investment firm he founded in 2000. The firm now manages a portfolio worth more than $3.5 billion. The San Francisco-based firm employs top-down macroeconomic to achieve risk-adjusted returns. Last quarter, he initiated a position in United Technologies Corporation (UTX, Financial) by buying 100,000 shares. The following chart shows his holding history in the company.
United Technologies Corporation provides high technology products and services to the building systems and aerospace industries worldwide. The company's business is classified into five segments: Otis, UTC Climate, Controls & Security, Pratt & Whitney, UTC Aerospace Systems and Sikorsky, with each segment composed of groups of similar operating companies.
The company's EPS forecast for the current year is $7.00 and next year is $7.66. According to the consensus estimates, its top line is expected to remain flat in the current year and 4.6% next year. It is trading at a forward P/E of 15.47. Out of 20 analysts covering the company, 17 are positive and have buy recommendations, and three have hold ratings.
In FY2014, UTX reported earnings per share of $6.82, up 10% year over year and up 12% excluding the impact of restructuring and one-time items. Sales growth was 4% with all five segments growing organically for the year. Segment operating margins expanded by 90 basis points to 16.6%, reflecting the benefit of volume leverage and cost control at CCS, along with lower pension expense, synergies and restructuring benefits at Pratt and UTC Aerospace Systems.
Going forward, the company's operational growth momentum is expected to continue in FY2015 despite of adverse forex movement of ~$0.30. To offset some of the adverse forex impact, the company has announced that it will be take additional cost actions. Management has also announced that they are now targeting $3 billion of share repurchase which is at the high end of its prior range. Together these actions will result in a 15 cents benefit to the EPS partially offsetting the forex headwind. In 1QFY2015, the company posted an adjusted EPS of $1.51 which was better than estimates by 6 cents. The company also reaffirmed its FY2015 EPS guidance of $6.85 to $7.05 in its latest earnings release.
In one of his recent reports Credit Suisse (CS) analyst Julian Mitchell, who has an overweight rating on the stock with target price of $138, wrote,
"Following today's analyst meeting, we slightly lowered our EPS ests; our TP remains $138. Overall, while organic trends (China BIS, UTAS comm'l AM) have started the year a little sluggishly, we heard enough to give us encouragement that many of the strategic items we previewed in two recent reports are underway or are being set in motion (see inside). Aside from the strategic matters, we still see a path to double-digit EPS growth in 2016 (including a $0.20 tailwind from Pension, R&D and Share count), which should help drive a further re-rating of the shares. Next catalysts would include potential European demand acceleration, evidence that the working capital efforts at Aerospace are driving up FCF conversion, or an acquisition. UTX remains our preferred name among the large-cap conglomerates."
United Technologies is trading at 16.93 times its FY2015 EPS. It has a forward annual dividend yield of 2.10%. The company has an excellent track record of returning cash to the shareholders through buy backs and dividends. While, the company's EPS growth is expected to slow to 3% this year, it is mainly due to non operational factors. Analysts are expecting the company to return to ~10% EPS growth by next year. Investors with medium- to long-term horizon can consider going long on the company.
