and industrial products; Sikorsky helicopters and International Fuel Cells power systems.In the news May 3, 2000, “ Otis Elevator Co. landed a contract Tuesday worth more than $8 million to supply 31 elevators to the Hearst Tower building in Charlotte, N.C.” This is indicative of the activity this company will have into the future time horizon of the next few months. Thus being a blue-chip stock, it has been relatively stable the past few years as compared to the S&P 500. In fact it has outperformed it consistently the past 5 years. The following graph indicates this point. As of April 28, 2000, UTX was trading at $62.19. In April of 1990, UTX was trading at around $13.65 a share. So by judging from the stability of this company one would expect, and rightfully so, this company to pay dividends. The last quarter ( Q 1 2000) will pay a dividend of $.20. In times of recession, a stock paying a regular dividend will appreciate in price. With UTX being at its 52-week low about a month ago at $46.50, the capital gains could at least be expected in the next couple of weeks. Interestingly enough, its 52-week high was almost exactly 52 weeks ago on May 11, 1999, at $75.97. Its P/E was 20.06 on April 28, 2000. This translates into an EPS of $3.10. UTX had a 17 percent increase in first quarter diluted earnings per share to $0.74 versus $0.63 in the prior year. Diluted earnings per share means all convertible securities and warrants are assumed to be exercised when they are reported in the companies’ financial statements. At the end of quarter 1, 2000, net income was $377 million, 22 percent above the $308 million reported in 1999. Revenues for the quarter were $6.4 billion, 17 percent higher than the prior year. Debt to capital ended the quarter at 38 percent, unchanged from the end of 1999. This is a favorable indicator, since increasing this ratio naturally indicates increased debt.I feel UTX is a generally wise purchase al...
