TSC Ratings' Updates: Cablevision

We've downgraded Morningstar(MORN Quote) from buy to hold. Strengths include its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and growth in earnings per share. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself and premium valuation.

Revenue rose by 12.2% since the same quarter last year, outpacing the industry average of 9.8%. This growth in revenue appears to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, improving the earnings per share. Morningstar has no debt to speak of therefore resulting in a debt-to-equity ratio of zero, which we consider to be a relatively favorable sign. It also has a quick ratio of 1.85, which demonstrates the ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs. Morningstar's gross profit margin is currently very high, coming in at 73.80%, though it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Net profit margin of 17.70% significantly outperformed against the industry.

Shares are down 57.3% on the year, underperforming the S&P 500, but don't assume that the stock can now be tagged as cheap and attractive. The reality is that, based on its current price in relation to its earnings, Morningstar is still more expensive than most of the other companies in its industry.

Other ratings changes include Key Technology(KTEC Quote) and National Instruments(NATI Quote), both downgraded from buy to hold.

All ratings changes generated on Nov. 17 are listed below.

Ticker	Company	Current	Change	Previous
AMRI	Albany Molecular	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY
ARCC	Ares Capital	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
ATAC	ATC Technology	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY
BYI	Bally Technologies	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY
CCK	Crown Holdings	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY
CPTS	Conceptus	HOLD	Upgrade	SELL
CRZO	Carrizo Oil & Gas	HOLD	Upgrade	SELL
CVC	Cablevision	HOLD	Upgrade	SELL
DUF	Duff & Phelps	SELL	Initiated
ELOS	Syneron Medical	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
FDRY	Foundry Networks	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY
GNK	Genco Shipping & Trading	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY
ISGT	Insight Health	SELL	Initiated
JCDA	Jacada	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
KCLI	Kansas City Life Insurance	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
KSU	Kansas City Southern	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY
KTEC	Key Technology	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY
KYO	Kyocera	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
LBTYB	Liberty Global	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
LBTYK	Liberty Global	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
LLL	L-3 Communications	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY
MORN	Morningstar	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY
MSCS	MSC Software	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
NATI	National Instruments	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY
NEPT	Neptune Tech	SELL	Initiated
OFG	Oriental Financial	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
PENX	Penford	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
PHC	PHC	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
TTI	Tetra Technologies	SELL	Downgrade	HOLD
YAVY	Yadkin Valley Financial	HOLD	Downgrade	BUY

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.