Buy Atlantic, hold on to Wyndham

Article Excerpt

ATLANTIC TELE-NETWORK $34.48 (Nasdaq symbol ATNI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (340- 777-8000; www.atni.com; Shares outstanding: 15.5 million; Market cap: $534.4 million; Dividend yield: 2.7%) sells telecommunications services in rural areas and other underserved areas in the U.S., Bermuda and the Caribbean region. In the three months ended March 31, 2012, Atlantic’s revenue fell 2.8%, to $182.9 million from $194.7 million a year earlier. However, earnings jumped 107.3%, to $9.3 million, or $0.60 a share, from $4.5 million, or $0.29 a share. In April 2010, Atlantic bought over 800,000 wireless accounts from Verizon Wireless for $200 million. These subscribers were mostly in rural parts of Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Idaho and the Carolinas. Atlantic lost some of these customers while it was converting them to its network. That lowered its revenue. However, the company recently completed this conversion and has now shifted its focus toward cutting its costs and attracting new subscribers. Its earnings have also risen now that its profit-sharing deal with Verizon on the…