DryShips Inc. Stock Downgraded (DRYS)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- DryShips (Nasdaq:DRYS) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to sell. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its deteriorating net income, generally weak debt management, disappointing return on equity, generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself and feeble growth in its earnings per share.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Marine industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 56.6% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $57.65 million to $25.03 million.
• The debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33 is relatively high when compared with the industry average, suggesting a need for better debt level management. Along with the unfavorable debt-to-equity ratio, DRYS maintains a poor quick ratio of 0.93, which illustrates the inability to avoid short-term cash problems.
• The company's current return on equity has slightly decreased from the same quarter one year prior. This implies a minor weakness in the organization. Compared to other companies in the Marine industry and the overall market on the basis of return on equity, DRYSHIPS INC underperformed against that of the industry average and is significantly less than that of the S&P 500.
• Despite any intermediate fluctuations, we have only bad news to report on this stock's performance over the last year: it has tumbled by 28.26%, worse than the S&P 500's performance. Consistent with the plunge in the stock price, the company's earnings per share are down 66.66% compared to the year-earlier quarter. Naturally, the overall market trend is bound to be a significant factor. However, in one sense, the stock's sharp decline last year is a positive for future investors, making it cheaper (in proportion to its earnings over the past year) than most other stocks in its industry. But due to other concerns, we feel the stock is still not a good buy right now.
• DRYSHIPS INC 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, DRYSHIPS INC increased its bottom line by earning $0.69 versus $0.40 in the prior year. For the next year, the market is expecting a contraction of 27.5% in earnings ($0.50 versus $0.69).

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DryShips, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the ownership and operation of drybulk carriers and drilling rigs that operate worldwide. The company has a P/E ratio of 32.3, above the average transportation industry P/E ratio of 4.7 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. DryShips has a market cap of $898.6 million and is part of the services sector and transportation industry. Shares are up 72% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

You can view the full DryShips Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.
-- Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff

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