a look at dov

after today's good session, dov trades at about 42. it currently trades at about a 12 p/e, as opposed to an industry p/e of about 20x. dov is a widely diversified manufacturer. industrial and aerospace products include compressors, flow meters, bearings, and other precision engineered components; petroleum products include pumps, valves, and sucker rods; electronic products include microwave filters, automated equipment for the assembly of circuit boards, and other equipment. foreign sales account for about 40% of the total, and it has about 33,000 employees.

dov continues to expand its operations. the company's subsidiary DE-STA-CO, a material handling outfit within the industrial products segment, recently acquired industrial motion control, llc. the terms of the transaction were not disclosed but imc has annual revenues of about $50 million and is one of the world's leading industrial automation manufacturers of mechanical motion control products. indeed, the new addition's variety of attractive end markets, proven reputation, and strong brand names offer promise. too, solid distribution channels, combined with its access to the inside track on industrial automation project requirements, ought to help pull additional DE-STA-CO automation products through approval processes and improve productivity and distribution efficiency.

meanwhile, dov's restructuring efforts are unlocking growth potential. the company has placed greater emphasis on disciplined capital allocation, and recent divestitures, coupled with ongoing cost-cutting initiatives, are generating savings that are likely to improve operating margins. surely the company will continue to invest in enhancing core operations. furthermore, the acquisition-driven growth strategy is benefiting from stricter focus on cost synergies; thus, despite the decentralized enterprise business model, management is attempting a more unified approach across its diversified portfolio of companies to improve overall productivity. as business fundamentals improve, i think that its global expansion efforts offer promise.

aggressive share repurchases should continue to augment share net. the company has authorized another $500 million in share buybacks, which ought to be accretive to share earnings over the coming years.

these shares have declined significantly since last year, as economic concerns have weighed on manufacturing stocks in recent months. i think a recovery in the share price to the 50s over the next several years is certainly possilbe.

long dov