For 14 straight quarters, through boom and now bust, industrial conglomerate United Technologies
What analysts say:
- Buy, sell, or waffle? Eighteen analysts unanimously endorse the stock.
- Revenues. On average, they expect 9% quarterly revenue growth to $15.1 billion.
- Earnings. Profits are predicted to rise in tandem, up 9% to $1.32 per share.
What management says:
Why are analysts so bullish on UTC? The better question is: Why wouldn't they be? Up on Wall Street, a credit crisis has just caused the partial nationalization of JPMorgan Chase
What management does:
Gross margins are steady-to-rising, operating profits, too, and on the bottom line, UTC is earning more per dollar of revenue today than it was a year ago -- more than rivals like Boeing
3/07 |
6/07 |
9/07 |
12/07 |
3/08 |
6/08 |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gross |
27.4% |
27.1% |
27.1% |
27.1% |
27.3% |
27.4% |
Operating |
13.2% |
13.0% |
13.1% |
12.9% |
13.2% |
13.2% |
Net |
7.7% |
7.5% |
7.6% |
7.7% |
7.9% |
7.8% |
All data courtesy of Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's. Data reflects trailing-12-month performance for the quarters ended in the named months.
One Fool says:
As if all that weren't enough to get you feeling up on UTC, consider this: You know how management said its free cash flow is "strong"? It is. Free cash flow over the past four reported quarters totaled $4.5 billion -- three times what the company now promises to pay out in annual dividends. So as an income play, UTC is rock-solid.
And as an equity investment? The stock currently trades for just over 11 times its free cash flow. Analysts think it will continue growing those profits at just over 11% per year as well. This stock is about as fairly valued as these things get.
So let's see: Unanimous support on Wall Street, for a proven performer with a reliable dividend, selling for a fair price -- it really doesn't get any better than this.
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