TheStreet.com Ratings: Stock Upgrades, Downgrades

Each weekday, TheStreet.com Ratings updates its ratings on the stocks we cover. Our model projects a stock's total return potential over a 12-month period including both price appreciation and dividends. Our buy, hold or sell ratings designate how we expect these stocks to perform against a general benchmark of the equities market and interest rates.

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

Some recent rating changes are highlighted below.

TheStreet.com Ratings has initiated coverage of UAL(UAUA Quote) with a hold rating. UAL is the holding company for United Airlines, which operates more than 3,600 flights a day. UAL emerged from bankruptcy in February 2006. Over the past year, the stock price has risen significantly, and earnings growth has been robust. However, the company's profit margins have been poor overall.

Restaurant chain P.F. Chang's (PFCB Quote) has been upgraded to buy from hold. The company's revenue growth has outpaced the industry average, while earnings per share have remained stagnant. TheStreet.com Ratings expects profitability to improve in the coming year. P.F Chang's had been rated a hold since May 2006.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO Quote) has been upgraded to hold from sell. The company creates content and merchandise related to homemaking and leisure activities. Martha Stewart has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings growth over the past two years, a trend TheStreet.com Ratings expects will continue. Gross profit margins are also quite high, more than 61% in the company's fiscal year 2006 fourth quarter. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia had been rated a sell since March 2005.

Business information provider Dun & Bradstreet (DNB Quote) has been boosted to a buy from a hold. The company's stock performance has been impressive over the past year. Earnings per share, revenue and profit margins are also all on the rise. Dun & Bradstreet had been rated a hold since August 2006.

Homebuilder Centex(CTX Quote) has been downgraded to hold from buy. Centex's earnings have been somewhat volatile recently. The company suffered a steep drop in earnings per share in the third quarter of 2006. TheStreet.com Ratings expects the decline to continue. Centex also has a relatively high debt-to-equity ratio when compared with the industry average. The company had been rated a hold since December 2006.

Additional ratings changes are listed in the table below.

TheStreet.com Ratings Stock Upgrades, Downgrades
Ticker	Exchange	Company Name	Change	New Rating	Former Rating
VLRX	Nasdaq	Valera Pharmaceuticals	Downgrade	Sell	Initiated
DMGI	Nasdaq	Digital Music Group	Downgrade	Sell	Initiated
UAUA	Nasdaq	UAL	Downgrade	Hold	Initiated
TWPG	Nasdaq	Thomas Weisel Partners	Downgrade	Sell	Initiated
PEIX	Nasdaq	Pacific Ethanol	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
IMOT	OTC	Intermost	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
NXST	Nasdaq	Nexstar Broadcasting	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
MFLX	Nasdaq	Multi-FineLine Electron	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
WSC	AMEX	Wesco Financial	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
TSTY	Nasdaq	Tasty Baking	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
TRDY	OTC	Trudy	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
SNIC	Nasdaq	Sonic Solutions	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
PSB	Amex	PS Business Parks	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
ROS	NYSE	Rostelekom AO	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
PFCB	Nasdaq	P.F. Chang's China Bistro	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
MPR	NYSE	Met-Pro	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
NASB	Nasdaq	NASB Financial	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
EPHC	Nasdaq	Epoch Holding	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
LAWS	Nasdaq	Lawson Products	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
LIFC	Nasdaq	Lifecell	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
MSO	NYSE	Martha Stewart Living Omnimd	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
IRS	NYSE	Irsa Inversiones y Repstn	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
DNB	NYSE	Dun & Bradstreet	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
CLBK	Nasdaq	Commercial Bankshares	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
DPTR	Nasdaq	Delta Petroleum	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
CALP	Nasdaq	Caliper Life Sciences	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
CTX	NYSE	Centex Corp	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
Source: TheStreet.com Ratings