Ameron International Inc. Stock Upgraded (AMN)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Ameron International (NYSE:AMN) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and notable return on equity. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• AMERON INTERNATIONAL CORP has exprienced 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, AMERON INTERNATIONAL CORP increased its bottom line by earning $5.11 versus $3.51 in the prior year. For the next year, the market is expecting a contraction of 64.8% in earnings ($1.80 versus $5.11).
• AMN, with its decline in revenue, slightly underperformed the industry average of 0.4%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 1.3%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
• The return on equity has improved slightly when compared to the same quarter one year prior. This can be construed as a modest strength in the organization. Compared to other companies in the Building Products industry and the overall market on the basis of return on equity, AMERON INTERNATIONAL CORP has outperformed in comparison with the industry average, but has underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500.
• Compared to its closing price of one year ago, AMN's share price has jumped by 42.06%, exceeding the performance of the broader market during that same time frame. Regarding the stock's future course, although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, AMN should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year.
• AMN's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.07 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. Along with this, the company maintains a quick ratio of 2.71, which clearly demonstrates the ability to cover short-term cash needs.

Ameron International Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered products and materials for the chemical, industrial, energy, transportation, and infrastructure industries from its plants in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. The company has a P/E ratio of 18.9, below the average materials & construction industry P/E ratio of 19.4 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Ameron International has a market cap of $780.4 million and is part of the industrial goods sector and materials & construction industry. Shares are up 11.6% year to date as of the close of trading on Monday.

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For more information on Ameron International Inc. click any of the following:

• Ameron International Inc. Stock Price

• Ameron International Inc. Analyst Ratings

• Ameron International Inc. Key Stats & Profile

• Ameron International Inc. Earnings

• Ameron International Inc. Ratio Comparison

• Ameron International Inc. Growth Rates

• Ameron International Inc. Balance Sheet

• Ameron International Inc. Cash Flow

• Ameron International Inc. Income Statement