Set to soar on rising airliner demand

Article Excerpt

Airlines continue to upgrade their fleets with more fuel-efficient aircraft. That will continue to improve these two aerospace firms’long-term prospects. Rising airliner demand should also help them offset a potential decline in military sales as governments cut defense spending to deal with their budget deficits. UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORP. $83 (New York symbol UTX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 916.5 million; Market cap: $76.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.utc.com) recently purchased Goodrich Corp., a North Carolina-based company that makes aircraft parts, including landing gear, wheels and brakes. United Technologies paid $18.4 billion, including $1.9 billion of assumed debt. To win regulatory approval, United Technologies agreed to sell some of its smaller businesses. For example, it recently sold three subsidiaries in its aerospace division for a total of $3.5 billion. United…