Topic: How To Invest

Hi Pat: Can I have your opinion on MacDonald Dettwiler and American Tower Corporation? Thank you.

Article Excerpt

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, $55.01, symbol MDA on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 41.4 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; www.mdacorporation.com), has sold its Information Products business (excluding Geospatial Services) to TPG Capital for $850 million. The company has also started paying a twice-yearly dividend of $0.50 a share, for a 1.8% yield. MacDonald Dettwiler’s space and defence contracts are heavily dependent on U.S. and Canadian government spending. That adds risk. The stock is up 47.1% over the last year, and now trades at a 23.9 times the $2.30 a share that the company is forecast to earn this year. MacDonald Dettwiler is okay to hold, but only for aggressive investors. A: American Tower, $51.05, symbol AMT on New York (Shares outstanding: 397.4 million; Market cap: $20.3 billion; www.americantower.com), is the largest independent operator of wireless communications and broadcast towers. The company has 34,411 towers in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru and India. American Tower leases its sites to wireless companies. AT&T, Sprint…