21st Century Holding Company Stock Upgraded (TCHC)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- 21st Century Holding Company (Nasdaq:TCHC) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income and attractive valuation levels. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows low profit margins.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• The revenue growth came in higher than the industry average of 0.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 18.7%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• Powered by its strong earnings growth of 280.00% and other important driving factors, this stock has surged by 107.36% over the past year, outperforming the rise in the S&P 500 Index during the same period. Regarding the stock's future course, although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, TCHC should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year.
• 21ST CENTURY HOLDING CO reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. During the past fiscal year, 21ST CENTURY HOLDING CO continued to lose money by earning -$0.05 versus -$1.01 in the prior year.
• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Insurance industry. The net income increased by 276.6% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from -$0.81 million to $1.42 million.

21st Century Holding Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in insurance underwriting, distribution, and claims processing primarily in the United States. The company has a P/E ratio of 14.8, equal to the average insurance industry P/E ratio and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. 21st Century Holding has a market cap of $38.7 million and is part of the financial sector and insurance industry. Shares are up 73% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

You can view the full 21st Century Holding 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 21st Century Holding Company click any of the following:

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• 21st Century Holding Company Growth Rates

• 21st Century Holding Company Balance Sheet

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• 21st Century Holding Company Income Statement