TSC Ratings' Updates: Kraft

The gross profit margin for Teppco is currently extremely low, coming in at 2.40%. It has decreased from the same quarter the previous year. Along with this, the net profit margin of 1.10% trails that of the industry average.

Currently the debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84 is quite high overall and when compared to the industry average, suggesting that the current management of debt levels should be re-evaluated.

Teppco had been rated a buy as of Aug. 11, 2006.

Receiving a downgrade to sell from hold was Delta Petroleum(DPTR Quote). The Denver-based company operates as an exploratory crude oil and natural gas producer within the U.S. This is driven by a number of negative factors, which we believe should have a greater impact than any strength and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared with most of the stocks we cover.

The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter year over year, has significantly underperformed compared with the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry average, but is greater than that of the S&P 500. The net income has decreased by 12.4% when compared year over year, dropping from -$18.74 million to -$21.06 million.

The company's current ROE has slightly decreased from the same quarter one year prior. This implies a minor weakness in the organization. Compared with other companies in the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry and the overall market, Delta Petroleum's return on equity significantly trails that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.

Net operating cash flow has decreased to $7.02 million, or 43.95%, when compared year over year. In addition, when comparing the cash generation rate with the industry average, the firm's growth is significantly lower.

Delta Petroleum is off 6.75% from its price level of one year ago, reflecting a combination of the general market trend and the company's own weaknesses, including its lower earnings per share compared with the year-earlier quarter. The fact that the stock is now selling for less than others in its industry in relation to its current earnings is not reason enough to justify a buy rating at this time.

Delta's earnings per share from the most recent quarter came in slightly below the year earlier quarter. The company has reported a trend of declining earnings per share over the past two years. However, the consensus estimate suggests that this trend should reverse in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, Delta Petroleum reported poor results of -$2.61 vs. negative 38 cents in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings (7 cents vs. -$2.61).

Delta Petroleum had been rated a hold since April 23, 2008.

Additional ratings changes from Aug. 12 are listed below.

Ticker	Company Name	Change	New Rating	Former Rating
ACET	Aceto Corp.	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
ADC	Agree Realty Corp.	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
AET	Aetna Inc.	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
ATLS	Atlas America Inc.	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
CPSI	Computer Programs & Systems	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
CRDN	Ceradyne Inc.	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
CRS	Carpenter Technology Corp.	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
DPTR	Delta Petroleum Corp.	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
ECLP	Eclipsys Corp.	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
ELX	Emulex Corp.	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
ERF	Enerplus Resources Fund	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
GEOI	GeoResources Inc.	Initiated	Hold
GPR	Geopetro Resources Co.	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
IPSU	Imperial Sugar Co.	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
KAZ	BMB Munai Inc.	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
KFRC	Kforce Inc.	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
KFT	Kraft Foods Inc.	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
KRNY	Kearny Financial Corp.	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
LDK	LDK Solar Co. Ltd.	Initiated	Sell
MGIC	Magic Software Enterprises Ltd.	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
NTLS	NTELOS Holdings Corp.	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
ONB	Old National Bancorp	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
PMBC	Pacific Mercantile Bancorp	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
ROY	International Royalty Corp.	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
SRVY	Greenfield Online Inc.	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
TNB	Thomas & Betts Corp.	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
TPP	TEPPCO Partners LP	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
VSAT	ViaSat Inc.	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
WWWW	Website Pros Inc.	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
XCO	EXCO Resources Inc.	Upgrade	Buy	Hold