GAIN Capital Holdings Inc. Stock Upgraded (GCAP)

Editor's Note: 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.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- GAIN Capital Holdings (NYSE:GCAP) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from sell 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 and notable return on equity. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself, feeble growth in the company's earnings per share and unimpressive growth in net income.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• GCAP has no debt to speak of therefore resulting in a debt-to-equity ratio of zero, which we consider to be a relatively favorable sign.
• GCAP, with its decline in revenue, underperformed when compared the industry average of 1.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues fell by 17.9%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
• GAIN CAPITAL HOLDINGS INC 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. Earnings per share have declined over the last two years. We anticipate that this should continue in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, GAIN CAPITAL HOLDINGS INC reported lower earnings of $0.40 versus $1.21 in the prior year. For the next year, the market is expecting a contraction of 32.5% in earnings ($0.27 versus $0.40).
• The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Diversified Financial Services industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 55.7% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $10.01 million to $4.43 million.

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GAIN Capital Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides online trading services worldwide. It specializes in over-the-counter (OTC) markets, including spot foreign exchange and precious metals, as well as contracts-for-difference. The company has a P/E ratio of 24.6, below the average financial services industry P/E ratio of 25.9 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. GAIN has a market cap of $164.6 million and is part of the financial sector and financial services industry. Shares are down 28.7% year to date as of the close of trading on Wednesday.

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

-- Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff

Editor's Note: 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.

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• GAIN Capital Holdings Inc. Income Statement