The Dividend Daily

Before the bell on Thursday defense contractor Raytheon Company [[RTN] saw its fourth quarter profit fall from a year earlier. The company also gave a conservative 2013 guidance, lower than analysts expectations, due to the uncertain future of defense spending.

The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company said its fourth quarter profit from continuing operations was $466 million, or $1.41 per share, down -13.5% from $539 million, or $1.56 per share, a year earlier. According to Bloomberg, analysts were forecasting a profit of $1.31 per share.

Revenue was up slightly compared to the fourth quarter of 2011, coming in at $6.44 billion.

The company said that results and outlook are low due to an uncertainty of the future of the government’s defense spending. As such, it is unknown how much the missile maker will see in contracts for the year.

Looking ahead to full year 2013 results, Raytheon is expecting profit to be in the $5.16 to $5.31 per share range. Wall Street analysts are predicting an EPS of $5.46 on revenue of $24.1 billion.

Raytheon shares were flat during pre-market trading on Thursday. The stock is up +16.68% over the past year.

The Bottom Line
We have been recommending shares of Raytheon (RTN) since Mar.23, 2012, when the stock was trading at $51.96. The company has a 3.44% dividend yield, based on last night’s closing stock price of $58.20.

Raytheon Company (RTN) is recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks, as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here.