Stock Upgrades, Downgrades From TheStreet.com Ratings

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

Energy Transfer Partners(ETP Quote), which operates midstream natural gas transportation and storage businesses, has been downgraded to a hold from a buy. The company shows mixed results, some indicating strength, others showing weakness. Its revenue increased by 20.7% in the third quarter of 2007, compared with the same period last year, and it has demonstrated a pattern of positive EPS growth over the past two years.

Energy Transfer Partners' stock has appreciated by 26.8%, exceeding the growth of the S&P 500, bringing it to a price level that makes it relatively expensive compared with the rest of its industry. The reduced upside potential is not good enough to warrant further investment at this time. In addition, its relatively high debt-to-equity ratio suggests the need for better debt-level management, and it maintains a poor quick ratio, while illustrates its inability to cover short-term cash problems. Energy Transfer Partners had been rated a buy since May 2007.

Real estate investment trust Liberty Property Trust(LRY Quote) has been downgraded to a hold from a buy. Strengths include a gross profit margin of 39.2% and revenues that increased by 5.6% in the second quarter of 2007, compared with the same period last year. However, EPS declined by 34.5% compared with last year's second quarter, and the market is expecting a further earnings contraction of 12.9% in the coming year. Net income went from $68.5 million in the second quarter of 2006 to $52.4 million in the same period this year. Liberty Property Trust had been rated a buy since July 2005.