TheStreet Ratings Top 10 Rating Changes

NEW YORK (TheStreet Ratings) -- Every trading day TheStreet Ratings' stock model reviews the investment ratings on around 4,600 U.S. traded stocks for potential upgrades or downgrades based on the latest available financial results and trading activity.

TheStreet Ratings released rating changes on 43 U.S. common stocks for week ending October 12, 2012. 27 stocks were upgraded and 16 stocks were downgraded by our stock model.

Rating Change #10

Nordion Inc (NDZ) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from buy to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its growth in earnings per share, increase in net income and revenue growth. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself and disappointing return on equity.

• ACTIVE STOCK TRADERS: Get full access to Jim Cramer's thoughts for less than $3/week - sometimes before he says them on TV! Start with a 14-Day Free Trial.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• NORDION INC 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, NORDION INC turned its bottom line around by earning $0.66 versus -$0.73 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 Life Sciences Tools & Services industry. The net income increased by 398.5% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from -$4.12 million to $12.30 million.
• NDZ'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 25.63%, 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. Despite the heavy decline in its share price, this stock is still more expensive (when compared to its current earnings) than most other companies in its industry.
• Current return on equity is lower than its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a clear sign of weakness within the company. When compared to other companies in the Life Sciences Tools & Services industry and the overall market, NORDION INC's return on equity is below that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.

.

Nordion Inc., a health science company, provides various products and services used for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases worldwide. The company has a P/E ratio of 18.8, below the average health services industry P/E ratio of 73 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Nordion has a market cap of $407.1 million and is part of the health care sector and health services industry. Shares are down 21.2% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

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

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... Next › Last »