The Dividend Daily

On Monday Wells Fargo downgraded Ingersoll-Rand plc (IR) on a valuation call.

The analysts downgraded IR from “Outperform” to “Market Perform.” The firm sees shares reaching a $50 to $53 range. That valuation range is about a +3.5% upside to Friday’s closing price of $49.77.

A Wells Fargo analyst commented, “We are downgrading to Market Perform from Outperform on valuation against the complexities of the upcoming business separation. While we see longer-term upside potential to IR’s stock price driven by good exposure to non-residential construction markets that continue to have relatively strong growth potential and internal margin improvement initiatives, we believe the stock could enter a consolidation period against some uncertainties related to the upcoming spin-off of the Security business and capital deployment to New IR share repurchase. Based on our current estimates of the separated business’
earnings power, we view the stock as trading close to fair value.”

Ingersoll-Rand shares were flat during morning trading on Monday. The stock is up +55.43% over the past year.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Ingersoll-Rand PLC (IR) have a 1.69% dividend yield, based on Friday’s closing stock price of $49.77. The stock has technical support in the $44-$46 price area. The stock is trading near the all-time highs of $54 a share.

Ingersoll-Rand PLC (IR) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks, as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here.