This pure-play stock is a solid pick

Article Excerpt

Investors tend to prefer “pure-play” firms as easier to analyze than companies with many businesses. A good example is the April 2020 merger our long-time favourite United Technologies with rival Raytheon to form Raytheon Technologies. It also spun off its building equipment businesses, which let Raytheon focus solely on its aerospace operations. Despite the shutdown of air travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the stock has gained 81% since the merger. That’s well above the 58% rise for the S&P 500 Index. Even with its aerospace focus, the new firm has an attractive balance of commercial and military businesses, which helps cut risk. Savings from the merger also let it reward investors with dividend hikes and share buybacks. RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORP. $90 is a buy. The company (New York symbol RTX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.5 billion; Market cap: $135.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.rtx.com) took its current form on April 3, 2020, with…