TheStreet.com Ratings: Stock Upgrades, Downgrades

Each weekday, 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 forecast company earnings. Objective elements include volatility of past operating revenue, financial strength and company cash flows.

Insurance and reinsurance provider Endurance(ENH) has been downgraded to a hold from a buy. The company's earnings per share fell 6.2% in the first quarter of fiscal 2007 compared with the same quarter a year earlier. TheStreet.com Ratings is expecting earnings to decline further in the future. Endurance had been rated a buy since October 2006.

Another insurance company, RenaissanceRe(RNR), has been upgraded to a buy from a hold. Revenues grew 14.2% in the first quarter of fiscal 2007 compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Revenues throughout the insurance industry only went up 3.1% over that same time span. RenaissanceRe's return on equity has risen to 23.4%. Although the company's stock price is already up 21.7% over the past 12 months, TheStreet.com Ratings feels there is still more upside potential left. RNR had been rated a hold since March 2007.