National Security Group Stock Upgraded (NSEC)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- National Security Group (Nasdaq:NSEC) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from sell to hold. Among the primary strengths of the company is its solid financial position based on a variety of debt and liquidity measures that we have evaluated. At the same time, however, we also find weaknesses including feeble growth in the company's earnings per share, deteriorating net income and disappointing return on equity.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• The current debt-to-equity ratio, 0.34, is low and is below the industry average, implying that there has been successful management of debt levels.
• NSEC, with its decline in revenue, slightly underperformed the industry average of 7.0%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 9.8%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
• The share price of NATIONAL SEC GROUP INC has not done very well: it is down 22.27% and has underperformed the S&P 500, in part reflecting the company's sharply declining earnings per share when compared to the year-earlier quarter. The fact that the stock is now selling for less than others in its industry in relation to its current earnings is not reason enough to justify a buy rating at this time.
• Return on equity has greatly decreased when compared to its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of major weakness within the corporation. Compared to other companies in the Insurance industry and the overall market, NATIONAL SEC GROUP INC's return on equity significantly trails that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.
• Net operating cash flow has significantly decreased to $0.37 million or 67.85% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing to the industry average, the firm's growth rate is much lower.

.

The National Security Group, Inc., an insurance holding company, provides various property and casualty, and life insurance products and services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Property and Casualty Insurance, and Life Insurance. National Security Group has a market cap of $21.6 million and is part of the financial sector and insurance industry. Shares are up 6.5% year to date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.

You can view the full National Security Group Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.
-- Written by a member of TheStreet RatingsStaff

For more information on National Security Group Inc click any of the following:

• National Security Group Inc Stock Price

• National Security Group Inc Analyst Ratings

• National Security Group Inc Key Stats & Profile

• National Security Group Inc Earnings

• National Security Group Inc Ratio Comparison

• National Security Group Inc Growth Rates

• National Security Group Inc Balance Sheet

• National Security Group Inc Cash Flow

• National Security Group Inc Income Statement