Macquarie Infrastructure Company Stock Upgraded (MIC)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Macquarie Infrastructure Company (NYSE:MIC) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, solid stock price performance, expanding profit margins 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:

• The revenue growth greatly exceeded the industry average of 23.8%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 17.9%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
• Compared to its closing price of one year ago, MIC's share price has jumped by 38.23%, exceeding the performance of the broader market during that same time frame. Looking ahead, the stock's sharp rise over the last year has already helped drive it to a level which is relatively expensive compared to the rest of its industry. We feel, however, that other strengths this company displays justify these higher price levels.
• MACQUARIE INFRASTRUCT CO LLC's earnings per share declined by 30.0% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, MACQUARIE INFRASTRUCT CO LLC turned its bottom line around by earning $0.21 versus -$2.40 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($3.00 versus $0.21).
• 40.00% is the gross profit margin for MACQUARIE INFRASTRUCT CO LLC which we consider to be strong. Regardless of MIC's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, MIC's net profit margin of 2.50% is significantly lower than the same period one year prior.
• 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 Transportation Infrastructure industry and the overall market on the basis of return on equity, MACQUARIE INFRASTRUCT CO LLC underperformed against that of the industry average and is significantly less than that of the S&P 500.

Macquarie Infrastructure Company LLC invests, owns, and operates in a diversified group of infrastructure businesses in the United States. Its businesses comprise the energy-related businesses and an aviation-related business. The company has a P/E ratio of 66, above the average wholesale industry P/E ratio of 57.1 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Macquarie Infrastructure has a market cap of $1.3 billion and is part of the services sector and wholesale industry. Shares are up 30.8% year to date as of the close of trading on Wednesday.

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