Textron has rating cut by Citigroup analyst

PROVIDENCE – Textron Inc., the plane maker identified as a takeover target by a Kuwaiti newspaper, had its rating reduced by a Citigroup Inc. analyst who predicted “bleak” quarterly results at the Cessna and industrial units, Bloomberg News reported this month.
Jeffrey Sprague reduced his rating to “hold” from “buy” as he cut his profit estimates through 2011 and lowered his delivery projection by 50 planes this year.
“Our new estimates are driven by our increasingly pessimistic view of Cessna, the industrial portfolio and a higher loss assumption at” the finance unit, the New York-based analyst wrote in a note to investors.
Kuwait’s Al-Watan newspaper reported last week that a United Arab Emirates group was preparing to buy Textron, also the maker of Bell helicopters, for $21 a share. The paper didn’t identify its sources and Textron subsequently declined to comment, citing company policy against discussing “rumor and speculation.”
Textron will report first-quarter results on April 29. &#8226