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Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of ITC Holdings (NYSE: ITC ) soared as much as 11% in early trading before closing up 3%. The operator of power distribution systems announced plans to purchase Entergy's (NYSE: ETR ) transmission business for $1.78 billion.
So what: Initial enthusiasm faded after investors realized the full price of the deal. Reuters reports that Entergy's transmission business is already the subject of a Department of Justice investigation and will need $2 billion in investment over the next four to five years.
Now what: In the here and now, ITC announced a plan to pay out a $700 million one-time dividend to shareholders ahead of the deal. Management also said it expects $3.90 to $4.05 in per-share profit for 2012. Analysts were calling for $4.03 a share. Do either of these moves matter? Would you buy shares of ITC Holdings at current prices? Please weigh in using the comments box below.
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Report this Comment On December 06, 2011, at 2:31 PM, settlenever wrote:
The need to invest $2B is not negative - depending upon the returns in the approved regulatory rates, the ability to grow the utility's rate base may be accretive to shareholder value.
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