Quality Systems Inc. Stock Downgraded (QSII)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Quality Systems (Nasdaq:QSII) 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 reasonable valuation levels. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including unimpressive growth in net income and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself.

• ACTIVE STOCK TRADERS: Check out TheStreet's special offer for Real Money, headlined by Jim Cramer, now!

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• The revenue growth significantly trails the industry average of 43.0%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 12.2%. 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.
• QSII 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, QSII has a quick ratio of 2.24, which demonstrates the ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs.
• QUALITY SYSTEMS INC's earnings per share declined by 21.9% 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, QUALITY SYSTEMS INC increased its bottom line by earning $1.29 versus $1.06 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($1.55 versus $1.29).
• Looking at the price performance of QSII's shares over the past 12 months, there is not much good news to report: the stock is down 42.19%, and it has underformed the S&P 500 Index. In addition, the company's earnings per share are lower today than the year-earlier 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.
• 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 Health Care Technology industry average. The net income has decreased by 18.8% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, dropping from $18.55 million to $15.07 million.

Quality Systems, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development and marketing of healthcare information systems in the United States. The company operates in four divisions: QSI Dental, NextGen, Hospital Solutions, and Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) Services. The company has a P/E ratio of 19.3, equal to the average computer software & services industry P/E ratio and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Quality Systems has a market cap of $1.47 billion and is part of the technology sector and computer software & services industry. Shares are down 33.3% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

You can view the full Quality Systems Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

-- Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff

TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

For more information on Quality Systems Inc. click any of the following:

• Quality Systems Inc. Stock Price

• Quality Systems Inc. Analyst Ratings

• Quality Systems Inc. Key Stats & Profile

• Quality Systems Inc. Earnings

• Quality Systems Inc. Ratio Comparison

• Quality Systems Inc. Growth Rates

• Quality Systems Inc. Balance Sheet

• Quality Systems Inc. Cash Flow

• Quality Systems Inc. Income Statement