Textron world headquarters in the heart of downtown Providence.

The Providence Journal / Bob Thayer

Providence-based Textron Inc. climbed to a two-month high in New York trading Tuesday amid speculation that the maker of Cessna aircraft and Bell helicopters will be acquired.

Textron rose 84 cents, or 11 percent, to $8.26 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the highest price since Feb. 2. Textron spokeswoman Karen Gordon Quintal declined to comment on the speculation.

Michael Nasto, the senior trader at U.S. Global Investors Inc., and Jon Najarian, co-founder of OptionMonster.com, said they have heard that defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. may make an offer for Textron.

“We are hearing the stock is up on takeover rumors,” San Antonio-based Nasto wrote in an e-mail. U.S. Global Investors Inc. manages about $2 billion.

“As a matter of policy we don’t talk about market rumor or speculation,” Quintal said.

Lockheed doesn’t “respond to merger or acquisition rumors” said Cheryl Amerine, a spokeswoman for the Bethesda, Md.-based company.

Lockheed rose $5.97, or 8.9 percent, to $73.28 in NYSE trading after Defense Secretary Robert Gates outlined a fiscal 2010 spending plan that calls for additional purchases of the company’s new F-35 warplane.

Quintal also declined to disclose the number of employees in Textron’s Providence headquarters or in its worldwide operations. That information, she said, will be announced on April 29, when Textron reports its first-quarter earnings. “There have been some changes,” she said.

In 2008, Textron had 670 Rhode Island employees, according to the state Economic Development Corporation.

The company’s stock has dropped 40 percent this year as it cut production of business jets amid a global recession. Textron is exiting most of its finance business to try to stem losses and has reduced its dividend to conserve cash.

Textron recently completed the sale of HR Textron, an operating unit within its Textron Systems segment, to Woodward Governor Co., resulting in about $265 million in after-tax cash proceeds. HR Textron is a supplier of systems and products for aircraft, guided weapons, armored vehicles and turbine engines, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and X-45 unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV). Fort Collins, Colo.-based Woodward is an independent designer, manufacturer and service provider of energy controls for commercial and military aircraft, turbines, reciprocating engines and electrical power systems.