Fisher Communications Inc. Stock Downgraded (FSCI)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Fisher Communications (Nasdaq:FSCI) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from buy to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its notable return on equity, reasonable valuation levels and solid stock price performance. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including unimpressive growth in net income and weak operating cash flow.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• The company's current return on equity greatly increased when compared to its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of significant strength within the corporation. Compared to other companies in the Media industry and the overall market, FISHER COMMUNICATIONS INC's return on equity exceeds that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.
• After a year of stock price fluctuations, the net result is that FSCI's price has not changed very much. Although its weak earnings growth may have played a role in this flat result, don't lose sight of the fact that the performance of the overall market, as measured by the S&P 500 Index, was essentially similar. Looking ahead, our view is that this company's fundamentals will not have much impact in either direction, allowing the stock to generally move up or down based on the push and pull of the broad market.
• Net operating cash flow has significantly decreased to -$19.80 million or 1899.54% 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 company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and greatly underperformed compared to the Media industry average. The net income has decreased by 7.9% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, dropping from -$1.73 million to -$1.86 million.

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Fisher Communications, Inc., an integrated media company, engages in television and radio broadcasting businesses. The company has a P/E ratio of 7.8, above the average media industry P/E ratio of 7.7 and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Fisher has a market cap of $278.8 million and is part of the services sector and media industry. Shares are up 9.2% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

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

 

For more information on Fisher Communications Inc. click any of the following:

• Fisher Communications Inc. Stock Price

• Fisher Communications Inc. Analyst Ratings

• Fisher Communications Inc. Key Stats & Profile

• Fisher Communications Inc. Earnings

• Fisher Communications Inc. Ratio Comparison

• Fisher Communications Inc. Growth Rates

• Fisher Communications Inc. Balance Sheet

• Fisher Communications Inc. Cash Flow

• Fisher Communications Inc. Income Statement