In Uncertain Times, Quality Prevails

• By Lauren Covello
• On 3:13 am EST, Tuesday November 3, 2009

When it comes to investing in this market, its less about flashiness and more about fundamentals or so says fund manager Daniel Kallus, who believes Danaher Corp. is exactly the kind of high-quality growth stock investors should have on their radar right now.

Danaher, a diversified technology manufacturer best known as the maker of Craftsman tools, is attractive because of its strong balance sheet and smart acquisitions strategy, said Kallus, who manages the Monteagle Quality Growth Fund distributed out of Nashville, Tenn., and serves as director of equities at Houston-based Davis Hamilton Jackson & Associates.

Its definitely not an aggressive name, said Kallus, who has held the stock in his fund for several years. Its really for the patient, longer-term investor looking for downside protection.

A key aspect of Danahers appeal is in its management teams propensity for making the right acquisitions at the right time, and for the right price. According to Kallus, Danahers top executives are very stingy about what theyre willing to pay for acquisitions and are very skilled at striking meaningful deals that broaden the companys market share and further its international exposure.

Theyre still small enough at $23 billion that the deals they do still mean something. To big companies, some deals are too small to matter, he said.

When the economy soured last year, the D.C.-based company decided to shy away from acquisitions and sit on most of the cash it generated. As a result, it became a tremendous generator of free cash flow that it is beginning to deploy now, said Kallus.

In early September, the company announced it would spend $1.1 billion on deals with MDS Inc. and Life Technologies Corp. moves that it hopes will boost 2010 earnings per share by 5 cents to 10 cents. The acquisitions position Danaher to round out its market share in the medical technology field, one of its six major business platforms.

Still, not all news is good news at Danaher. On the same day that it announced a new stream of acquisitions, the company also announced it would be speeding up its 2009 restructuring efforts, cutting 3,300 jobs and closing 30 facilities.

For Kallus, though, Danaher is the kind of company that has steadied itself during the economic upheaval better than most and continues to maintain strong earnings streams and a strategy that promises to endure.

We think that this is a very opportune time in the investment cycle to be looking at higher quality growth names, he said said. The focus is really on companies that can deliver strong fundamentals.