Fitch rates Agilent BBB-

Fitch Ratings said it assigned a BBB- issuer default rating to Agilent Technologies, Inc.

The outlook is stable.

The agency said the BBB- rating reflects its expectations that Agilent's operating performance will remain consistent over the intermediate-term, Agilent's relatively conservative financial policies and solid liquidity position, Fitch's expectations that Agilent will continue to generate positive annual free cash flow in excess of $500 million, driven by a combination of less volatile funds from operations along with improved working capital efficiencies; and Agilent's leading share and broad portfolio in the relatively fragmented measurement market.

Rating concerns center on potentially more aggressive shareholder-friendly actions that could include debt-financed share buybacks; Fitch's expectations for continued pricing pressures within a number of Agilent's key end markets, including wireless manufacturing, due to a combination of excess supply and slower-than-anticipated unit volume growth; maturing revenue growth rates for Agilent's core electronics measurement end markets; and more focused competitors in each of the company's discrete end markets, the agency said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.