Transporting the executive stylishly is a demanding business, but there is an outfit in Providence, Rhode Island that has several of the avenues covered. Their planes, helicopters and golf carts are well thought of by the business crowd. In fact, their products are popular with the military set, too.

Textron, Inc. (NYSE: TXT) specializes in general aviation aircraft. The firm's Bell segment makes helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft for both military and commercial applications. This segment also manufactures weapons, surveillance systems, aircraft landing systems, hovercraft, rescue vessels, armored vehicles and turrets. The Cessna unit manufactures business jets, single engine turboprop caravans, and single engine piston aircraft. The Industrial division offers golf carts, off-road utility vehicles, lawn care machinery and power tools. The Finance segment handles commercial loans. Major competitors include General Electric (NYSE: GE) and United Technologies (NYSE: UTX).

The company pleased investors last week, when it reported Q2 EPS of $1.69 and revenues of $3.23 billion. Analysts had been expecting $1.45 and $3.09 billion. Management also guided Q3 EPS to $1.45-$1.55 ($1.53 consensus), FY07 EPS to $6.35-$6.55 ($6.31 consensus) and FY07 revenues to about $12.87 billion ($12.6B consensus). Further, the company announced a 2-for-1 stock split (8/24/07), a 19% increase in its annualized dividend rate and a 24 million share repurchase program.

The stock popped on the news and is now forming a bullish "flag" consolidation pattern. Prices frequently exit flags moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the issue with four "strong buys", six "buys" and three "holds". Analysts see an 18% growth rate, through the next year. The TXT P/E ratio (19.85), Price to Sales ratio (1.24), Sales Growth rate (14.72%), EPS Growth rate (26.12%) and Return on Equity (26.38%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages.

The stock is one of those used to calculate the S&P 500 Index. Institutional investors hold about 70% of the outstanding shares. Over the past 52 weeks, TXT has traded between $80.46 and $128.00. A stop-loss of $103.00 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.