Solar buy for Atlantic

Article Excerpt

ATLANTIC TELE-NETWORK $65.04 (Nasdaq symbol ATNI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (340-777-8000; www.atni.com; Shares outstanding: 15.9 million; Market cap: $1.0 billion; Dividend yield: 1.8%) is entering the solar energy market by acquiring 28 solar projects in Massachusetts, California and New Jersey for $103 million. Atlantic will now operate the assets, which have 45.7 megawatts of capacity, through its newly created Ahana Renewable subsidiary. The projects’ power-purchase agreements range from 10 to 25 years. Before the purchase, Atlantic held cash of $395.6 million, or $24.87 a share, so it can easily afford this acquisition. Solar generation is a big shift away from Atlantic’s wireless and wireline telecom operations in the U.S. Southwest, New England, New York State, Guyana, Bermuda and parts of the Caribbean islands. Moving into unrelated industries adds risk—though the company is cutting that risk by retaining these projects’ employees and managers. Atlantic Tele-Network is still a hold. hold. …