Stock Upgrades, Downgrades From TheStreet.com Ratings

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 are from Feb. 13.

Old Dominion Freight (ODFL Quote), a motor carrier, has been upgraded to buy. The company shows strong revenue growth and a solid financial position. These strengths outweigh subpar net income growth.

For the fourth quarter, Old Dominion posted revenue of $358.7 million, marking an increase of 12% over last year. On this revenue, the company reported income of $15.7 million, or 42 cents a share, down from $17.8 million, or 48 cents a share, a year ago. However, for 2008, the market expects full-year earnings of $2 a share, vs. $1.92 in 2007.

The company's current debt-to-equity ratio, 0.54, is lower than the industry average, implying successful management of debt levels. With a P/E of 15.60, the stock is slightly cheaper than the industry average. Old Dominion Freight had been rated hold since Nov. 27.

Greenfield Online (SRVY Quote), which provides Internet surveys and comparison shopping solutions, has been upgraded to buy on a solid fourth-quarter financial performance.

For the quarter, Greenfield Online's revenue surged 30% to $38.39 million from a year ago. Net income likewise grew 30% to $4.6 million.

In 2007, the company had a negligible amount of outstanding debt, while shareholders' equity grew 18% to $176.42 million. It also had a strong cash and equivalent balance of $58 million, up 57% year over year. This strong balance sheet provides the financial flexibility to exploit growth opportunities in the future.

Ongoing consolidation in the market research industry, especially among the company's clients, could mean loss of business. Also, declines in Internet traffic could hurt comparison shopping revenue. Any adverse changes in the regulatory framework and foreign exchange fluctuations are causes of concern. Greenfield Online had been rated hold since Feb. 1, 2007.

La-Z-Boy (LZB Quote), which makes upholstered furniture, has been upgraded to hold. The company has a solid financial position, good cash flow from operations and notable return on equity. However, the stock has not performed well and the company exhibits poor net income and weak profit margins.

At 0.33, La-Z-Boy's debt-to-equity ratio lags the industry average, implying successful management of debt levels. The company also maintains a quick ratio of 1.26, which illustrates the ability to avoid short-term cash problems. For the second quarter of the company's fiscal 2008, net operating cash flow has increased 162% year over year to $14.28 million.