BUZZ-DuPont cancels planned water business separation, quickens electronics spinoff; shares tick up

Shares of DuPont de Nemours DD.N up 0.3% at $76.50 before the bell after industrial conglomerate revised previous plans to break up into three publicly traded cos

Wilmington, Delaware-based firm late Weds said no longer intends to separate its water unit, but plans to go ahead with electronics business spinoff and accelerated the date for completion of transaction to occur by Nov 1

DuPont last May revealed plans to split its units three ways with goal to unlock value and pursue focused growth

Co late Weds also reaffirmed its annual guidance of adj EPS of $3.90 and net sales of ~$12.37 bln

Reacting to the news, BMO trimmed its PT by $2 to $105, but reiterated its 'outperform' rating saying DD remains a 'top pick'

Of 18 analysts covering DuPont, recommendation breakdown is 12 "strong buy" or "buy", 4 "hold" and 2 "sell"; median PT is $100 - LSEG data

DD shares have risen past three sessions and are up ~3% over the past year. That compares to ~4% gain in S&P 500 Materials sector .SPLRCM in same time frame

(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))