Boeing, Raytheon, Rockwell Rise to Highs

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- U.S. stocks gained Friday as the unemployment rate stayed at 9.7% in February and the country shed only about half as many jobs as economists had expected. Meanwhile, the following aerospace and defense stocks recorded 52-week highs.

3. Rockwell Collins

(COL)

gained 0.5% to $60.04, hitting a high of $60.40. Shares of the communications and aviation electronics company have rallied 13% in the past four weeks.

The numbers

: Fiscal first-quarter profit decreased 20% to $121 million, or 76 cents a share, as revenue declined 2.8% to $1 billion. The operating margin narrowed from 21% to 18%. Rockwell Collins holds $206 million of cash and $591 million of debt.

The stock

: Rockwell Collins has more than doubled in the past year, outperforming major indices. The stock trades at a price-to-projected-earnings ratio of 15, a modest discount to its peer group average. The shares are expensive based on book value and sales.

2. Raytheon

(RTN) - Get Report

rose 0.7% to $57.11, touching a high of $57.32. Shares of the integrated-defense-systems designer have advanced 7% during the past month.

The numbers

: Fourth-quarter profit increased 20% to $504 million, or $1.30 a share, as revenue grew 9.5% to $6.7 billion. Raytheon's operating margin inched up from 11% to 12%. Its balance sheet stores $2.6 billion of cash and $2.3 billion of debt.

The stock

: Raytheon has appreciated 60% over the past 12 months, matching the gain of the

Dow Jones Industrial Average

. The stock sells for a price-to-projected-earnings ratio of 11 and a price-to-book ratio of 2.2, less than peer group averages.

1. Boeing

(BA) - Get Report

climbed 3.6% to $67.93, reaching a high of $68.04. Shares of the aircraft specialist returned 16% in the past four weeks.

The numbers

: Boeing swung to a fourth-quarter profit of $1.3 billion, or $1.77 a share, from a loss of $86 million, or 12 cents, a year earlier. Revenue soared 42% to $18 billion. Boeing's operating margin rose to 9.4%. Its balance sheet contains $11 billion of cash and $13 billion of debt.

The stock

: Boeing has more than doubled over the past year, beating U.S. benchmarks. Its PEG ratio, a measure of value relative to growth expectations, is low at 0.3. A PEG ratio below 1 implies cheap shares. The industry average clocks in at 1.7.

-- Reported by Jake Lynch in Boston.