Investopedia: Precision Castparts Goes For A Bold And Eminently Logical Deal

When it comes to specialty metal components manufacturer Precision Castparts (NYSE:PCP), it's really never a question as to whether management will do another deal. Rather, it's just a question of who the company will buy, how much it will pay and how successful it will ultimately prove to be.

Last week, though, management announced a real doozy - a $2.9 billion bid for titanium producer Titanium Metals (NYSE:TIE) (aka "Timet"). Although a large and expensive deal would be a significant risk for most companies, Precision Castparts is not like most companies, and I expect this deal will prove to be quite worthwhile for shareholders over time.

Please read more here:
http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/Precision-Castparts-Goes-For-A-Bold-And-Eminently-Logical-Deal-TIE-PCP-AA-BA1114.aspx

Investopedia: Bulls Onboard Boeing

The stock of American aircraft giant The Boeing (NYSE: BA) seems to always be in "hurry up and wait" mode. Investors and analysts always seem to be more interested in the cycle to come than in the business today. Of course investing is a forward-looking endeavor, but it looks like the long-awaited good times at Boeing are in sight at last.


A Respectable Third Quarter
The good times are close at hand for Boeing, but not exactly here yet. Revenue rose just 4% in the third quarter, as relatively better sales (up 9%) in commercial aerospace offset flat results in the defense business. Within defense, Boeing balanced increased military aircraft revenue with declines in space and service and support revenue.

Read more here:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Bulls-Onboard-Boeing-BA-UTX-HON-GE-COL-WAIR-PCP-HXL-TIE-LMT1031.aspx

Allegheny Becomes Broader Still

Give credit where it is due - Allegheny Technologies (NYSE:ATI) is not messing around when it comes to its plans to diversify away from stainless steel products and become a more diversified player in advanced alloys and technologically sophisticated components. The latest move is the acquisition of Ladish (Nasdaq:LDSH), a small company that has focused on forged and cast-metal components for the aerospace and defense industry.

The Deal
Allegheny is paying a total consideration of $48 per share to Ladish, consisting of $24 per share in cash and slightly less than 0.46 shares of stock for each share of Ladish. That is a total deal value of about $778 million (prior to the post-announcement moves in the stocks) or slightly more than 14 times Ladish's trailing EBITDA. For Ladish shareholders, it also represents more than a 63% premium to the prior night's closing price, but a roughly 17% discount to the company's all-time high back in mid-October of 2007.

Please follow the link for the full piece:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Allegheny-Becomes-Broader-Still-ATI-LDSH-GE-UTX-BA-RTI-TIE1119.aspx

OM Group Under The Radar But Worth A Look

Hard as it may be to believe, there actually are other metals in the world beside gold, copper and rare earth elements. Still, with investors' attention elsewhere, relative value hounds may want to do some due diligence on OM Group (NYSE:OMG). OMG is not a miner, nor a major company, but it has an interesting materials business all the same.


OM Group is, to a large extent, in the business of cobalt. More specifically, the company takes raw cobalt (and other metals like copper, nickel, and so on) and turns them into a wide range of powders, coatings, ceramics, additives and other value-added formulations. Like Titanium Metals (NYSE:TIE), and unlike some advanced materials companies like Brush Engineered (NYSE:BW), OM Group does not actually mine or own the mines that produce the cobalt (though OMG does own a smelter). That makes this company a somewhat different type of commodity play - they can benefit with generally higher commodity prices, but only if they succeed in pushing along higher input prices.

Please click the link for the full article:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/OM-Group-Under-The-Radar-But-Worth-A-Look-OMG-BW-TIE-JCI-AONE1105.aspx