TSC Ratings' Updates: Kraft

Each business day, TheStreet.com Ratings updates its ratings on the stocks it covers. The proprietary ratings model projects a stock's total return potential over a 12-month period, including both price appreciation and dividends. Buy, hold or sell ratings designate how the Ratings group expects these stocks to perform against a general benchmark of the equities market and interest rates.

While the ratings model is quantitative, it uses both subjective and objective elements. For instance, subjective elements include expected equities market returns, future interest rates, implied industry outlook and company earnings forecasts. Objective elements include volatility of past operating revenue, financial strength and company cash flows.

However, the rating does not incorporate all of the factors that can alter a stock's performance. For example, it doesn't always factor in recent corporate or industry events that could affect the stock price, nor does it include recent technology developments and competitive dynamics that may affect the company.

For those reasons, we believe a rating alone cannot tell the whole story and that it should be part of an investor's overall research.

The following ratings changes were generated on Aug. 12.

Upgraded to buy from hold was Aetna(AET Quote). Based out of Hartford, Conn., it operates as a diversified health care benefits company. This is driven by several positive factors, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover.

Aetna's revenue growth came in higher than the industry average of 3.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 15.2%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost its earnings per share.

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