TSC Ratings' Updates: Hartford

The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed compared to the Chemicals industry average, but is greater than that of the S&P 500. The net income has decreased by 10.7% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, dropping from $292.80 million to $261.60 million.

Looking at the price performance of the shares over the past 12 months, there is not much good news to report: the stock is down 56.28%, and it has underperformed the S&P 500 Index. In addition, the company's earnings per share are lower today than the year-earlier quarter. Despite the heavy decline in its share price, this stock is still more expensive (when compared to its current earnings) than most other companies in its industry.

We rate Big Lots (BIG Quote). The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed -- some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks.

The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, impressive record of earnings per share growth and increase in net income. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a decline in the stock price during the past year and weak operating cash flow.

Big Lots' revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 1.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenue slightly increased by 1.9%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.