Ingersoll (IR)-Mitsubishi JV Starts Rolling Out Products

The joint venture (JV) of Ingersoll-Rand Plc (NYSE:IR) and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has started to roll out state-of-the-art products for customers across the globe. Leveraging on the extensive technological knowhow and applications expertise of the JV partners, the products have created a niche market in the United States and some Latin American countries.

The joint venture that operates under the brand name, Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC, manufactures variable-speed mini-split, multi-split, and VRF (Variable Refrigerant Flow) air conditioners and heat pumps for homes, light commercial and commercial applications. The 50-50 JV was conceived in January this year to tap the multi-billion dollar growing ductless and VRF cooling and heating systems.

The collaboration includes marketing, sales and distribution of ductless and VRF heating and air conditioning systems through Ingersoll’s Trane brand and American Standard commercial and residential channels, and existing Mitsubishi Electric distributors and representatives in the United States and select countries in Latin America. Headquartered in Suwanee, GA, the joint venture has Keijiro Hora as the CEO and D. Andrew Kelso as the CFO, the former being the serving president and CEO of Mitsubishi Electric U.S. Inc, and the latter being the serving finance leader for Ingersoll’s Industrial Products businesses.

With such technological collaborations, Ingersoll aims to augment its leading position in the market. Moreover, the company has a solid foundation of global brands and a leading market share in all major product lines. The geographic and industrial diversity coupled with a large installed product base provides ample growth opportunities within service, spare parts and replacement revenue streams. Additionally, the company’s complementary portfolio of products and services are likely to assist it in strengthening the market position and achieving high productivity.

Moving forward, Ingersoll is focused on improving the efficiencies and capabilities of products and services within its core businesses. Furthermore, strategic acquisitions had served as growth drivers, supplementing the company’s organic growth. Ingersoll is also likely to achieve steady improvements in operating profitability with new product developments, investments in IT platform and enhancement of channel services footprint and product management capabilities.

The company has outperformed the industry in the past six months with an average return of 6.2% against a decline of 1.8% for the latter.

Ingersoll currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the sector are Altra Industrial Motion Corp. (NASDAQ:AIMC) , Kaman Corporation (NYSE:KAMN) and Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Altra Industrial has a positive earnings surprise history with an average of 5.1% in the trailing four quarters, beating estimates thrice.

Kaman has a positive earnings surprise history with an average of 6% in the trailing four quarters, beating estimates twice.

Kadant has a positive earnings surprise history with an average of 15.5% in the trailing four quarters, beating estimates in each.

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