All in all, XRX has been a fairly epic “rise and fall” story in the history of corporate America. From accounting scandals in the early 2000s, to Carl Icahn spending a decade trying to enact his vision, the company has been through a lot.
Capital allocation was all over the place in recent years. The business declines organically, assets are sold off, other smaller acquisitions are made, dividends are paid out, repurchases are made, and debt is paid down at the same time.
As an investor, you must be agnostic about the prospects for any particular company. You can root for the global printing industry, but it has been and will be in slow decline for a long time. XRX will probably survive, but it will never come close to thriving again. The almost 10% dividend yield might attract investors, but there is more inherent long-term risk versus a high dividend yield. There is no saving the company’s long-term prospects, but you can save losses by avoiding this value trap.