"Whether it's Otis elevators, Carrier heating and cooling roducts, UTC Fire and Security detection and suppression, or any of the aerospace products of Pratt & Whitney, Hamilton Sundstrand, or Sikorsky, you probably seldom realize how often you rely on UTX products.

"Anonymity is somewhat unique for a company that sells nearly $60 billion worth of products per year. Typically, such a large company would be a household name.

"In the case of UTX, it is the company's diverse line-up of underlying products and brands, many of which are dominant market players in their own right, that are the household names.

"The key advantage in owning such a varied product line-up is the ability to diversify away a portion of the economic risk inherent in selling multimillion dollar elevator systems or Sikorsky helicopters.

"In addition, unlike many conglomerates where sales are driven primarily by moving new products, UTX derives roughly 40% of its revenue from aftermarket services.

"With many of its products involved in heavy-wear, high maintenance applications, after-the-sale servicing provides a great balancing component – supplying a consistent source of revenue and helping to offset economic downturns.

"A great product line-up is one thing, but transferring demand to the bottom line is where it counts. Fortunately, UTX excels in this area. The firm has an annualized 10-year earnings per share (EPS) growth rate of 14.5%.

"Another key component of the UTX story is the company's financial strength and discipline. For UTX, cash is king. More specifically, cash flow is king. Over the past 3 years, UTX has had an average free cash flow of $4.3 billion per year.

"Currently, UTX pays investors a healthy dividend yield of 3.0%, equivalent to $1.54 per share. They use the remaining free cash flow to repurchase shares in the open market, pursue attractive acquisitions, or to help generate internal "organic" growth -- whichever avenue appears to provide the highest return on investment.

"This strategy has been working very well for management given recent EPS growth. Based on price to cash flow, valuation is attractive -- near the lowest point in more than a decade.

"Other valuation metrics including price to earnings, price to sales and dividend yield all show similar attractive levels. Although the current economic environment is one of continued uncertainty, the risk-to-reward profile for UTX appears skewed in investors' favor."

Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers a free daily overview of the favorite stock picks and investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.