TheStreet Ratings Top 10 Rating Changes

Rating Change #8

QEP Resources Inc (QEP) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from buy to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its good cash flow from operations, expanding profit margins and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself, deteriorating net income and disappointing return on equity.

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

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• Net operating cash flow has increased to $365.80 million or 11.11% when compared to the same quarter last year. The firm also exceeded the industry average cash flow growth rate of -5.46%.
• The gross profit margin for QEP RESOURCES INC is rather high; currently it is at 50.70%. It has increased from the same quarter the previous year. Regardless of the strong results of the gross profit margin, the net profit margin of -0.10% trails the industry average.
• The revenue fell significantly faster than the industry average of 2.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues fell by 38.2%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
• 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. In comparison to the other companies in the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry and the overall market, QEP RESOURCES INC's return on equity is significantly below that of the industry average and is below that of the S&P 500.
• The share price of QEP RESOURCES INC has not done very well: it is down 15.75% 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.

QEP Resources, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. The company has a P/E ratio of 19.9, equal to the average energy industry P/E ratio and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. QEP has a market cap of $5.1 billion and is part of the basic materials sector and energy industry. Shares are down 2.1% year to date as of the close of trading on Wednesday.

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

« First ‹ Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... Next › Last »