TSC Ratings' Updates: Hartford

Net operating cash flow has significantly decreased to $677.00 million, or 58.20%, when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing the cash generation rate to the industry average, the firm's growth is significantly lower.

Despite any intermediate fluctuations, we have only bad news to report on this stock's performance over the last year: it has tumbled by 93.07%, worse than the S&P 500's performance. Consistent with the plunge in the stock price, the company's earnings per share are down 426.11% compared to the year-earlier quarter.

Naturally, the overall market trend is bound to be a significant factor. However, in one sense, the stock's sharp decline last year is a positive for future investors, making it cheaper (in proportion to its earnings over the past year) than most other stocks in its industry. But due to other concerns, we feel the stock is still not a good buy right now.

Hartford has experienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. We feel it is likely to report a decline in earnings in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, the company ncreased its bottom line by earning $9.23 vs. $8.67 in the prior year. For the next year, the market is expecting a contraction of 52.3% in earnings to $4.40.

We rate Internet Capital Group (ICGE Quote) a sell. This is driven by multiple weaknesses, which we believe should have a greater impact than any strengths, and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared to most of the stocks we cover. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself and weak operating cash flow.