TSC Ratings' Updates: Thoratec

Net income growth of 10% since the same quarter a year ago significantly outperformed the S&P 500 and the multi-utilities industry, though revenue growth of 20.% significantly trails the 42.8% industry average. EPS improved by 9.5% in the most recent quarter compared with the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive EPS growth over the past two years, but we anticipate underperformance relative to this pattern in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, OGE increased its bottom line by earning $2.64 vs. $2.45 in the prior year. For the next year, the market is expecting a contraction of 3.6% in earnings to $2.55.

Even though the current debt-to-equity ratio is 1.44, it is still below the industry average, suggesting that this level of debt is acceptable within the multi-utilities industry. The company's quick ratio of 0.5 is very low and demonstrates very weak liquidity. OGE's gross profit margin for OGE is rather low at 22.70%, having decreased from the same quarter the previous year, but the net profit margin of 11.1% is above the industry average.

We've upgraded TriCo Bancshares(TCBK Quote), which provides commercial banking services primarily for retail customers, from hold to buy, driven by its expanding profit margins, good cash flow from operations and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat weak growth in earnings per share.

TriCo's 73.2% gross profit margin is very high, and its 17% net profit margin outperforms the industry average. Net operating cash flow has significantly increased by 57.83% to $12.32 million when compared with the same quarter last year, though TriCo is still growing at a significantly lower rate than the industry average of 169.13%. Revenue dropped slighty by 6.4%, underperforming the industry average of 8.5%. Net income has decreased by 8.2%, dropping from $6.79 million to $6.24 million.