TSC Ratings' Updates: JPMorgan

The following ratings changes were generated on Thursday, Oct. 16

We've downgraded Honda Motor(HMC Quote) from buy to hold. Strengths include its revenue growth, notable return on equity and compelling growth in net income. Weaknesses include a decline in the stock price during the past year, generally poor debt management and poor profit margins.

Honda's revenue growth of 13.7% over the same quarter last year outpaced the industry average of 12.4%. Return on equity has improved slightly, outperforming both the industry average and the S&P 500. Net operating cash flow has significantly increased by 59.19% to $3,113.27 million, but Honda is still growing at a significantly lower rate than the industry average of 616.86%.

Honda's debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02 is relatively high when compared with the industry average, suggesting a need for better debt level management. The company also maintains poor quick ratio of 0.71, which illustrates the inability to avoid short-term cash problems. Shares plunged 37.95% on the year, apparently at least in part dragged down by the decline we have seen in the S&P 500. However, the stock is still more expensive (when compared with its current earnings) than most other companies in its industry.

We've downgraded Joy Global(JOYG Quote), a producer of mining equipment for the extraction of coal and other minerals and ores, from buy to hold. Strengths include its robust revenue growth, increase in net income and impressive record of earnings per share growth. Weaknesses include a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself, poor profit margins and weak operating cash flow.