Our #1 Conservative pick still looks strong: Raytheon Technologies Corp.

Article Excerpt

We picked United Technologies as our top Conservative pick for 2020 before the COVID-19 outbreak. Despite the resulting stock market damage, our reasons behind that choice are still valid. The merger with defense contractor Raytheon has helped cut its exposure to commercial airlines, which continue to struggle during the current crisis. Big savings from the elimination of overlapping operations will also provide more cash to reward shareholders. The company has already rewarded investors with two spinoffs. Those separations have improved the prospects for all of the firms. RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORP. $67 remains our #1 Conservative buy for 2020. The company (New York symbol RTX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 866.2 million; Market cap: $58.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.rtx.com) took its current form on April 3, 2020, with the merger of United Technologies Corp. (old symbol UTX) and Raytheon Co. (old symbol RTN). Under the terms of the deal, Raytheon shareholders received 2.3348 shares in…