Ericsson Telephone Company Stock Downgraded (ERIC)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Ericsson Telephone Company (Nasdaq:ERIC) 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, reasonable valuation levels and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and weak operating cash flow.

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

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• Although ERIC's debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21 is very low, it is currently higher than that of the industry average. Along with the favorable debt-to-equity ratio, the company maintains an adequate quick ratio of 1.44, which illustrates the ability to avoid short-term cash problems.
• ERICSSON 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. 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, ERICSSON increased its bottom line by earning $0.56 versus $0.50 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($0.57 versus $0.56).
• Net operating cash flow has significantly decreased to -$202.01 million or 122.04% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing to the industry average, the firm's growth rate is much lower.
• The company's current return on equity has slightly decreased from the same quarter one year prior. This implies a minor weakness in the organization. When compared to other companies in the Communications Equipment industry and the overall market, ERICSSON's return on equity is below that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.

Ericsson provides network infrastructure, telecom services, and multimedia solutions to mobile and fixed networks operators worldwide. The company has a P/E ratio of 15.8, above the average telecommunications industry P/E ratio of 13.4 and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Ericsson Telephone has a market cap of $28.06 billion and is part of the technology sector and telecommunications industry. Shares are down 9.9% year to date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.

You can view the full Ericsson Telephone 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 LM Ericsson Telephone Company click any of the following:

• LM Ericsson Telephone Company Stock Price

• LM Ericsson Telephone Company Analyst Ratings

• LM Ericsson Telephone Company Key Stats & Profile

• LM Ericsson Telephone Company Earnings

• LM Ericsson Telephone Company Ratio Comparison

• LM Ericsson Telephone Company Growth Rates

• LM Ericsson Telephone Company Balance Sheet

• LM Ericsson Telephone Company Cash Flow

• LM Ericsson Telephone Company Income Statement