TSC Ratings' Updates: U.S. Bancorp

U.S. Bancorps 58.1% gross profit margin is rather high, but it has decreased from the same period last year. Its 12.9% net profit margin compares favorably with the industry average. Revenue fell by 13.7%, underperforming the industry average of 5.6%. EPS decreased. Current ROE is lower than it was in the same quarter last year, a clear sign of weakness, but it exceeds that of the industry average and the S&P 500.

EPS declined by 48.4% in the most recent quarter year over year, and during the past fiscal year, the company reported lower earnings of $2.43 vs. $2.61 in the prior year. The market sees a contraction of 19.3% to $1.96 for the next year. Net income is down 47.4% over the same quarter last year, to $576 million, underperforming both the S&P 500 and the commercial banks industry.

Other ratings changes include United Security (USBI), upgraded from hold to buy, and Brandywine (BDN), downgraded from hold to sell.

All ratings changes generated on Nov. 10 are listed below.

Ticker	Company	Current	Change	Previous
ABCW	Anchor Bancorp	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
AEG	Aegon	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
AGP	Amerigroup	HOLD	Upgrade	SELL
AN	AutoNation	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
ARSD	Arabian American Development	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
ASGR	America Service Group	HOLD	Upgrade	SELL
AVTR	Avatar	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
BDN	Brandywine	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
BOFI	BOFI Holding	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
BRKR	Bruker	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY
CBEY	CBeyond	HOLD	Upgrade	SELL
CDE	Coeur D'Alene Mines	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
COVR	Cover-All Technologies	HOLD	Upgrade	SELL
DM	Dolan Media	SELL	Initiated
FARM	Farmer Bros.	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
FDS	FactSet Research Systems	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY
FRZ	Reddy Ice	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
G	GenPact	SELL	Initiated
GAIA	Gaiam	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
GTLS	Chart Industries	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
HIL	Hill International	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
HRL	Hormel Foods	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY
INXI	INX	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY
LAMR	Lamar Advertising	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
LCUT	Lifetime Brands	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
OFIX	Orthofix	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
RRI	Reliant Energy	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
SMCI	Super Micro Computer	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
TECUA	Tecumseh Products	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
TECUB	Tecumseh Products	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
USB	U.S. Bancorp	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY
USBI	United Security	BUY	Upgrade	HOLD
ZINC	Horsehead	SELL	Initiated

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.

This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.com Ratings.

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