Park Electrochemical Corp. Stock Downgraded (PKE)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Park Electrochemical (NYSE:PKE) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from buy to hold. Among the primary strengths of the company is its solid financial position based on a variety of debt and liquidity measures that we have evaluated. At the same time, however, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself, deteriorating net income and disappointing return on equity.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• PKE 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 13.63, which clearly demonstrates the ability to cover short-term cash needs.
• PKE, with its decline in revenue, slightly underperformed the industry average of 9.1%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues fell by 14.7%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
• PARK ELECTROCHEMICAL CORP 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. 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, PARK ELECTROCHEMICAL CORP reported lower earnings of $1.13 versus $1.58 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($1.40 versus $1.13).
• The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed against the S&P 500 and did not exceed that of the Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 62.0% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $8.29 million to $3.15 million.
• The share price of PARK ELECTROCHEMICAL CORP has not done very well: it is down 17.08% and has underperformed the S&P 500, in part reflecting the company's sharply declining earnings per share when compared to the year-earlier quarter. Looking ahead, we do not see anything in this company's numbers that would change the one-year trend. It was down over the last twelve months; and it could be down again in the next twelve. Naturally, a bull or bear market could sway the movement of this stock.

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Park Electrochemical Corp. The company has a P/E ratio of 21, above the average electronics industry P/E ratio of 20.8 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Park Electrochemical has a market cap of $488.1 million and is part of the technology sector and electronics industry. Shares are down 8.3% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

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

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