Pitney Bowes: Watching for a June 30 Asset Sale

Pitney Bowes Inc. (PBI) has taken steps to increase shareholder value. Originally announced in November 2007, that plan included increasing share repurchases, raising the dividend, targeting $150 million in annual savings from job cuts, and exploring strategic alternatives for the company’s U.S. Management Services division.

That final item is one to watch. On the last conference call, CEO Murray Martin said that the postage meter maker would be “more definitive before this quarter is out.” That means that the marketplace should have a good idea of what will happen by June 30, the end of the second quarter, and a date that is fast approaching.

In 2001, Pitney Bowes spun off its office systems business Imagistics and gave common stockholders a special stock dividend. This time around, it’s probably more likely it will be just a plain asset sale. Bank of America analysts say the managed services division could fetch as much as $800 million so there could be a nice one-time cash dividend associated with the deal.