- Honeywell (NYSE:HON) has more cash than nearly all of its peers and may be warming to big acquisitions, as its head of M&A says the company could tally $10B in acquisitions by the end of 2018, possibly in “one shot.”
- HON typically has hesitated from making big deals, but with the balance sheet containing a record $9.1B cash, "they've got to do something,” says RBC analyst Deane Dray.
- That's got Bloomberg speculating on potential targets; Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) could make sense because it would mesh well with HON’s aerospace offerings, with other possibilities including Brady Corp. (NYSE:BRC), Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) and Japan's Yokogawa Electric (OTCPK:YOKEF).
- HON made just one purchase of size last year - a $185M acquisition of Datamax-O’Neil - and Roger Fradin, appointed to head up a push for M&A, said at the company’s investor day Wednesday that he was frustrated at the pace of acquisitions.