Good morning – We are buying Accenture (ACN) in Focus Equity to 2.5%, using proceeds from IVV. Accenture is a leading global consulting, technology and outsourcing services firm with over 500K employees.
Investment Thesis:
- Market leader uniquely positioned to benefit from secular growth driven by evolving technologies including cloud, analytics, security, blockchain, IoT and artificial intelligence.
- Their differentiated strategy positions them well to continue gaining share. Having a consulting arm with deep industry expertise, combined with technology expertise, is a structural advantage as it enables them to provide end-to-end strategic technology solutions for their clients across industries.
- Their competitive advantage is their brand, their scale, and their breadth of expertise. They build on this advantage by continuously innovating and investing for future relevance. Disciplined M&A and investment in training and R&D helps them attract and retain top talent and reinforces their market leadership.
- Diversified industry and geographic end market exposure provides a level of defensiveness.
- High ROIC, strong FCF generation and disciplined capital allocation – enduring model for shareholder value creation, with share buybacks, a growing dividend and M&A supported by strong free cash flow generation and a solid balance sheet.
Sarah Kanwal
Equity Analyst, Director
Direct: 617.226.0022
Fax: 617.523.8118
Crestwood Advisors
One Liberty Square, Suite 500
Boston, MA 02109
$ACN.US
[category equity research]
[tag ACN]