Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. Stock Upgraded (MSO)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE:MSO) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from sell to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, solid stock price performance and increase in net income. However, as a counter to these strengths, we find that the company's return on equity has been disappointing.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• MSO has no debt to speak of therefore resulting in a debt-to-equity ratio of zero, which we consider to be a relatively favorable sign. To add to this, MSO has a quick ratio of 1.88, which demonstrates the ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs.
• Compared to where it was a year ago today, the stock is now trading at a higher level, regardless of the company's weak earnings results. Despite the fact that it has already risen in the past year, there is currently no conclusive evidence that warrants the purchase or sale of this stock.
• MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMD reported flat earnings per share in the most recent quarter. The company has reported a trend of declining earnings per share over the past two years. However, the consensus estimate suggests that this trend should reverse in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMD reported poor results of -$0.29 versus -$0.18 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($0.01 versus -$0.29).
• 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 Media industry and the overall market, MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMD's return on equity significantly trails that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.

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Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc., an integrated media and merchandising company, creates media and merchandise in the areas of cooking and entertaining, holidays, crafts, home, whole living, weddings, organizing, gardening, and pets. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has a market cap of $125.2 million and is part of the services sector and media industry. Shares are down 2.5% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

You can view the full Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.
-- Written by a member of TheStreet RatingsStaff

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