TSC Ratings' Updates: Texas Instruments

Net operating cash flow has decreased to $138.6 million or 25.1% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing to the industry average, the firm's growth rate is much lower. RRC had been rated a buy as of July 25, 2006.

Taking on a downgrade to sell from hold was Amerigroup(AGP Quote). AGP operates as a multistate managed health care company specifically geared toward individuals who receive health care benefits through publically sponsored programs. The downgrade is driven by several weaknesses, which we believe should have a greater impact than any strengths, and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared to most of the stocks we cover.

The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared with that of the S&P 500 and the health care providers & services industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 595.7% when compared with the same quarter one year ago, falling from $32.8 million to -$162.5 million.

Return on equity has greatly decreased when compared with its return on equity from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of major weakness within the corporation. Compared with other companies in the health care providers & services industry and the overall market, Amerigroup's return on equity significantly trails that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.

The gross profit margin for AGP is rather low; currently it is at 19.3%. Regardless of Amerigroup's low profit margin, it has managed to increase from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, AGP's net profit margin of -14.40% significantly underperformed when compared with the industry average.

Net operating cash flow has decreased to $102.4 million or 27.3% when compared with the same quarter last year. Despite a decrease in cash flow, Amerigroup is still fairing well by exceeding its industry average cash flow growth rate of -53.6%.

Looking at where the stock is today compared with one year ago, we find that it is higher, and it has outperformed the rise in the S&P 500 over the same period, despite the company's weak earnings results. Turning our attention to the future direction of the stock, we do not believe this stock offers ample reward opportunity to compensate for the risks, despite the fact that it rose over the past year. AGP had been rated a hold since May 13, 2008.

Additional ratings changes from July 25 are listed below.

Ticker	Company Name	Change	New Rating	Former Rating
AGP	Amerigroup Corp.	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
ARBA	Ariba Inc.	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
ATI	Allegheny Technologies Inc.	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
ATMI	ATMI INC	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
CBBO	Columbia Bancorp	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
DOW	Dow Chemical Co.	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
ESSA	Essa Bancorp, Inc.	Initiated	Sell
FBP	First Bancorp	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
MRTN	Marten Transport Ltd.	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
MTSN	Mattson Technology Inc.	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
NHLD	National Holding Corp.	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
NRGP	Inergy Holdings, L.P.	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
PETD	Petroleum Development Corp.	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
RRC	Range Resources Corp.	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
TQNT	TriQuint Semiconductor Inc.	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
TXN	Texas Instruments Inc.	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
ZNT	Zenith National Insurance Corp.	Downgrade	Hold	Buy