(MONEY Magazine) – All year long ITT has been fending off Hilton Hotels, which recently raised its bid for 50.1% of the $6.4 billion hotel and casino giant to $70 a share from $55. In July, ITT had announced it would buy back 26% of its stock at $70 and split in three: ITT Destinations (hotels and casinos), ITT Corp. (phone directories) and ITT Educational Services (vocational and technical institutes). But just two years ago the company also split into three: ITT, ITT Hartford and ITT Industries.

"ITT's managers are doing anything they can to avoid the takeover, because if Hilton wins, many will lose their jobs," says Brian Eisenbarth of Collins & Co., a brokerage firm in Larkspur, Calif. He thinks that the stock climbed to its current price of $63 just because Hilton and ITT have been battling for the shares. But because of ITT's recalcitrance, even its fans are sitting tight. "ITT's cash flow is up, and it has valuable assets and brand-name reach," says Harold Vogel of Cowen & Co., "but we can't predict the outcome of this fight." So if you're an ITT shareholder, you might want to consider pocketing some of your 50% gains.

The MONEY 30, which began at 1000 in January 1996, rose 9.3% in July to a record high of 1914, while the Dow increased 7.4%. For the up-to-the-minute value of our index, see MONEY Online (http://pathfinder.com/cgi-bin/Money/money30).

--Peter Keating