Barnes Group Value Stock - Dividend - Research Selection

Description of the company

Barnes Group Inc. (the “Company”) is a global provider of highly engineered products, differentiated industrial technologies, and innovative solutions, serving a wide range of end markets and customers. Its specialized products and services are used in far-reaching applications including aerospace, transportation, manufacturing, healthcare and packaging. The Company’s skilled and dedicated employees around the globe are committed to the highest performance standards and achieving consistent, sustainable profitable growth.

Our Strategy

The Company’s strategy outlines the actions that we are executing to achieve our vision. Our strategy is comprised of four pillars:

1. Build a World-class Company Focused on High Margin, High Growth Businesses - We pro-actively manage our business portfolio with a focus on multiple platforms and market channels, in end-markets where projected long-term growth and favorable macro-economic trends are present. By doing so, we expect to create superior value for our key stakeholders - our shareholders, customers, employees and the communities in which we operate.

2. Leverage the Barnes Enterprise System (“BES”) as a Significant Competitive Advantage - BES is our integrated operating system that promotes a culture of employee engagement and empowerment and drives alignment across the organization around a common vision. BES standardizes our business processes to allow us to achieve commercial, operational and financial excellence in everything we do.

3. Expand and Protect Our Core Intellectual Property to Deliver Differentiated Solutions - Driven by a passion for innovation, we embrace intellectual property as a core differentiator to create proprietary products, processes and systems. Through our Global Innovation Forum, we foster an environment that generates great ideas and shares best practices across the enterprise to maximize our collective strengths and create economies of scale in the development and commercialization of new and innovative products and services.

4. Effectively Allocate Capital to Drive Top Quartile Total Shareholder Return - We strive to be good custodians of our shareholders’ capital and to drive maximum shareholder value. We do so by investing in our core businesses to fund profitable, organic growth and by employing a disciplined capital allocation process in the strategic acquisitions we undertake.

Structure

The Company operates under two global business segments: Industrial and Aerospace. The Industrial Segment includes the Molding Solutions, Nitrogen Gas Products and Engineered Components business units. The Aerospace segment includes the original equipment manufacturer (“OEM”) business and the aftermarket business, which includes maintenance repair and overhaul (“MRO”) services and the manufacture and delivery of aerospace aftermarket spare parts.

In the second quarter of 2017, the Company completed its acquisition of the assets of the privately held Gammaflux L.P. business ("Gammaflux"), a leading supplier of hot runner temperature and sequential valve gate control systems to the plastics industry. Gammaflux, which is headquartered in Sterling, Virginia and has offices in Illinois and Germany, provides temperature control solutions for injection molding, extrusion, blow molding, thermoforming, and other applications. Its end markets include packaging, electronics, automotive, household products, medical, and tool building. Gammaflux is being integrated into the Industrial Segment, within our Molding Solutions business unit. See Note 2 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

In the third quarter of 2016, the Company, through three of its subsidiaries, completed its acquisition of the molds business of Adval Tech Holding AG and Adval Tech Holdings (Asia) Pte. Ltd. ("FOBOHA"). FOBOHA is headquartered in Haslach, Germany and operates out of manufacturing facilities located in Germany and China. FOBOHA specializes in the development and manufacture of complex plastic injection molds for packaging, medical, consumer and automotive applications. FOBOHA has been integrated into the Industrial Segment, within our Molding Solutions business unit. See Note 2 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

In the fourth quarter of 2015, the Company completed the acquisition of privately held Priamus System Technologies AG and two of its subsidiaries (collectively, "Priamus") from Growth Finance AG. Priamus, which is headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland and has direct sales and service offices in the U.S. and Germany. Priamus is a technology leader in the development of advanced process control systems for the plastic injection molding industry and services many of the world's highest quality plastic injection molders in the medical, automotive, consumer goods, electronics and packaging markets. Priamus has been integrated into the Industrial Segment, within our Molding Solutions business unit. See Note 2 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

In the third quarter of 2015, the Company completed the acquisition of the Thermoplay business ("Thermoplay") by acquiring all of the capital stock of privately held HPE S.p.A., the parent company through which Thermoplay operates. Thermoplay’s headquarters and manufacturing facility are located in Pont-Saint-Martin in Aosta, Italy, with technical service capabilities in China, India, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Portugal, and Brazil. Thermoplay specializes in the design, development, and manufacturing of hot runner systems for plastic injection molding, primarily in the packaging, automotive, and medical end markets. Thermoplay has been integrated into the Industrial Segment, within our Molding Solutions business unit. See Note 2 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

INDUSTRIAL

The Industrial segment is a global provider of highly-engineered, high-quality precision components, products and systems for critical applications serving a diverse customer base in end-markets such as transportation, industrial equipment, consumer products, packaging, electronics, medical devices, and energy. Focused on innovative custom solutions, Industrial participates in the design phase of components and assemblies whereby customers receive the benefits of application and systems engineering, new product development, testing and evaluation, and the manufacturing of final products. Products are sold primarily through its direct sales force and global distribution channels. Industrial's Molding Solutions businesses design and manufacture customized hot runner systems, advanced mold cavity sensors and process control systems, and precision high cavitation mold assemblies - collectively, the enabling technologies for many complex injection molding applications. Industrial's Nitrogen Gas Products business provides innovative cost effective force and motion solutions for sheet metal forming, heavy duty suspension and other selective niche markets for customers worldwide. Industrial's Engineered Components businesses manufacture and supply precision mechanical products used in transportation and industrial applications, including mechanical springs, high-precision punched and fine-blanked components and retention rings.

Industrial competes with a broad base of large and small companies engaged in the manufacture and sale of engineered products, precision molds, hot runner systems and precision components. Industrial competes on the basis of quality, service, reliability of supply, engineering and technical capability, geographic reach, product breadth, innovation, design, and price. Industrial has manufacturing, distribution and assembly operations in the United States, Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Industrial also has sales and service operations in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, China/Hong Kong, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand and the United Kingdom. Sales by Industrial to its three largest customers accounted for approximately 9% of its sales in 2017.

AEROSPACE

Aerospace is a global manufacturer of complex fabricated and precision machined components and assemblies for OEM turbine engine, airframe and industrial gas turbine builders, and the military. The Aerospace aftermarket business provides aircraft engine component MRO services, including services performed under our Component Repair Programs (“CRPs”), for many of the world’s major turbine engine manufacturers, commercial airlines and the military. The Aerospace aftermarket activities also include the manufacture and delivery of aerospace aftermarket spare parts, including revenue sharing programs (“RSPs”) under which the Company receives an exclusive right to supply designated aftermarket parts over the life of specific aircraft engine programs.

Aerospace’s OEM business supplements the leading aircraft engine OEM capabilities and competes with a large number of fabrication and machining companies. Competition is based mainly on quality, engineering and technical capability, product breadth, new product introduction, timeliness, service and price. Aerospace’s fabrication and machining operations, with facilities in Arizona, Connecticut, Mexico, Michigan, Ohio, Utah and Singapore, produce critical engine and airframe components through technologically advanced manufacturing processes.

The Aerospace aftermarket business supplements jet engine OEMs’ maintenance, repair and overhaul capabilities, and competes with the service centers of major commercial airlines and other independent service companies for the repair and overhaul of turbine engine components. The manufacture and supply of aerospace aftermarket spare parts, including those related to the RSPs, are dependent upon the reliable and timely delivery of high-quality components. Aerospace’s aftermarket facilities, located in Connecticut, Ohio and Singapore, specialize in the repair and refurbishment of highly engineered components and assemblies such as cases, rotating life limited parts, rotating air seals, turbine shrouds, vanes and honeycomb air seals. Sales by Aerospace to its three largest customers, General Electric, Rolls-Royce and United Technologies Corporation, accounted for approximately 55%, 15% and 10% of its sales in 2017, respectively. Sales to its next three largest customers in 2017 collectively accounted for approximately 6% of its total sales.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The backlog of the Company’s orders believed to be firm at the end of 2017 was $1,039 million as compared with $886 million at the end of 2016. Of the 2017 year-end backlog, $723 million was attributable to Aerospace and $316 million was attributable to Industrial. Approximately 62% of the Company's consolidated year-end backlog is scheduled to be shipped during 2018. The remainder of the Company’s backlog is scheduled to be shipped after 2018.

We have a global manufacturing footprint and a technical service network to service our worldwide customer base. The global economies have a significant impact on the financial results of the business as we have significant operations outside of the United States. For a summary of net sales, operating profit and long-lived assets by reportable business segment, as well as net sales by product and services and geographic area, see Note 19 of the Consolidated Financial Statements. For a discussion of risks attendant to the global nature of our operations and assets, see Item 1A. Risk Factors.

RAW MATERIALS

The principal raw materials used to manufacture our products are various grades and forms of steel, from rolled steel bars, plates and sheets, to high-grade valve steel wires and sheets, various grades and forms (bars, sheets, forgings, castings and powders) of stainless steels, aluminum alloys, titanium alloys, copper alloys, graphite, and iron-based, nickel-based (Inconels) and cobalt-based (Hastelloys) superalloys for complex aerospace applications. Prices for steel, titanium, Inconel, Hastelloys, as well as other specialty materials, have periodically increased due to higher demand and, in some cases, reduction of the availability of materials. If this occurs, the availability of certain raw materials used by us or in products sold by us may be negatively impacted.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

We conduct research and development activities in our effort to provide a continuous flow of innovative new products, processes and services to our customers. We also focus on continuing efforts aimed at discovering and implementing new knowledge that significantly improves existing products and services, and developing new applications for existing products and services. Our product development strategy is driven by product design teams and collaboration with our customers, particularly within Industrial’s Molding Solutions businesses, as well as within our Aerospace and our other Industrial businesses. Many of the products manufactured by us are custom parts made to customers’ specifications. Investments in research and development are important to our long-term growth, enabling us to stay ahead of changing customer and marketplace needs. We spent approximately $15 million, $13 million and $13 million in 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively, on research and development activities.

PATENTS AND TRADEMARKS

Patents and other proprietary rights, including trade secrets and unpatented know-how, are critical to certain of our business units. We are party to certain licenses of intellectual property and hold numerous patents, trademarks, and trade names that enhance our competitive position. The Company does not believe, however, that any of these licenses, patents, trademarks or trade names is individually significant to the Company or either of our segments. We maintain procedures to protect our intellectual property (including trade secrets, patents and trademarks). Risk factors associated with our intellectual property are discussed in Item 1A. Risk Factors.