HudBay Minerals Inc. Stock Downgraded (HBM)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- HudBay Minerals (NYSE:HBM) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from buy to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself, deteriorating net income and weak operating cash flow.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• HBM's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 2.0%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 5.4%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
• HBM 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. Along with this, the company maintains a quick ratio of 3.70, which clearly demonstrates the ability to cover short-term cash needs.
• HUDBAY MINERALS 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. Stable Earnings per share over the past year indicate the company has sound management over its earnings and share float. During the past fiscal year, HUDBAY MINERALS INC increased its bottom line by earning $0.49 versus $0.48 in the prior year.
• Net operating cash flow has significantly decreased to -$28.27 million or 285.03% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing to the industry average, the firm's growth rate is much lower.
• Despite any intermediate fluctuations, we have only bad news to report on this stock's performance over the last year: it has tumbled by 40.63%, worse than the S&P 500's performance. Consistent with the plunge in the stock price, the company's earnings per share are down 54.54% compared to the year-earlier quarter. Although its share price is down sharply from a year ago, do not assume that it can now be tagged as cheap and attractive. The reality is that, based on its current price in relation to its earnings, HBM is still more expensive than most of the other companies in its industry.

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HudBay Minerals Inc., an integrated mining company, engages in the exploration and development of copper, zinc, and precious metals mines in North and South America. It primarily produces copper concentrates containing copper, gold, and silver; and zinc metal. The company has a P/E ratio of 22.4, above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. HudBay has a market cap of $1.62 billion and is part of the basic materials sector and metals & mining industry. Shares are down 13.9% year to date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.

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

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