AAR Corp. Stock Upgraded (AIR)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- AAR (NYSE:AIR) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, attractive valuation levels, increase in net income, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and good cash flow from operations. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• AIR's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 1.5%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 8.0%. 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.
• AAR CORP' earnings per share from the most recent quarter came in slightly below the year earlier quarter. 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, AAR CORP increased its bottom line by earning $1.81 versus $1.21 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($1.89 versus $1.81).
• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the Aerospace & Defense industry average, but is less than that of the S&P 500. The net income increased by 4.3% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $16.81 million to $17.53 million.
• The current debt-to-equity ratio, 0.58, is low and is below the industry average, implying that there has been successful management of debt levels. Although the company had a strong debt-to-equity ratio, its quick ratio of 0.86 is somewhat weak and could be cause for future problems.

AAR CORP. provides products and services to aviation, government, and defense markets worldwide. The company's Aviation Supply Chain segment purchases and sells new, overhauled, and repaired engine and airframe parts and components. The company has a P/E ratio of 11.5, below the average aerospace/defense industry P/E ratio of 11.7 and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. AAR has a market cap of $850 million and is part of the industrial goods sector and aerospace/defense industry. Shares are up 16.2% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

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• AAR Corp. Growth Rates

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• AAR Corp. Cash Flow

• AAR Corp. Income Statement