Canon Inc. Stock Downgraded (CAJ)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Canon (NYSE:CAJ) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from buy to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, increase in net income and expanding profit margins. 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.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• CAJ's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.01 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. Along with the favorable debt-to-equity ratio, the company maintains an adequate quick ratio of 1.43, which illustrates the ability to avoid short-term cash problems.
• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the S&P 500, but is less than that of the Office Electronics industry average. The net income increased by 11.4% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $670.16 million to $746.73 million.
• The gross profit margin for CANON INC is rather high; currently it is at 54.40%. Regardless of CAJ's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, CAJ's net profit margin of 7.40% compares favorably to the industry average.
• Net operating cash flow has decreased to $681.06 million or 21.64% when compared to the same quarter last year. In conjunction, when comparing current results to the industry average, CANON INC has marginally lower results.
• CAJ'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 33.32%, 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. 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, CAJ is still more expensive than most of the other companies in its industry.

Canon Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of network digital multifunction devices (MFDs), plain paper copying machines, laser printers, inkjet printers, cameras, and lithography equipment worldwide. The company has a P/E ratio of 13, above the average consumer durables industry P/E ratio of 11.9 and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Canon has a market cap of $37.77 billion and is part of the consumer goods sector and consumer durables industry. Shares are down 25.9% year to date as of the close of trading on Monday.

You can view the full Canon 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 Canon Inc. click any of the following:

• Canon Inc. Stock Price

• Canon Inc. Analyst Ratings

• Canon Inc. Key Stats & Profile

• Canon Inc. Earnings

• Canon Inc. Ratio Comparison

• Canon Inc. Growth Rates

• Canon Inc. Balance Sheet

• Canon Inc. Cash Flow

• Canon Inc. Income Statement