Fortress Investment Group LLC Stock Upgraded (FIG)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Fortress Investment Group (NYSE:FIG) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from sell to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its increase in net income, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and growth in earnings per share. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself and weak operating cash flow.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Capital Markets industry. The net income increased by 71.4% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from -$103.43 million to -$29.54 million.
• The current debt-to-equity ratio, 0.50, is low and is below the industry average, implying that there has been successful management of debt levels.
• FORTRESS INVESTMENT GRP LLC reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. 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, FORTRESS INVESTMENT GRP LLC reported poor results of -$2.35 versus -$1.86 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($0.42 versus -$2.35).
• Net operating cash flow has significantly decreased to -$103.24 million or 72.98% when compared to the same quarter last year. Despite a decrease in cash flow of 72.98%, FORTRESS INVESTMENT GRP LLC is still significantly exceeding the industry average of -722.81%.
• FIG's stock share price has done very poorly compared to where it was a year ago: Despite any rallies, the net result is that it is down by 40.87%, which is also worse that the performance of the S&P 500 Index. Investors have so far failed to pay much attention to the earnings improvements the company has managed to achieve over the last 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.

.

Fortress Investment Group LLC is a publicly owned investment manager. Fortress Investment Group has a market cap of $728.1 million and is part of the financial sector and financial services industry. Shares are up 1.5% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

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

 

For more information on Fortress Investment Group LLC click any of the following:

• Fortress Investment Group LLC Stock Price

• Fortress Investment Group LLC Analyst Ratings

• Fortress Investment Group LLC Key Stats & Profile

• Fortress Investment Group LLC Earnings

• Fortress Investment Group LLC Ratio Comparison

• Fortress Investment Group LLC Growth Rates

• Fortress Investment Group LLC Balance Sheet

• Fortress Investment Group LLC Cash Flow

• Fortress Investment Group LLC Income Statement