EMC Insurance Group Stock Upgraded (EMCI)

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) -- EMC Insurance Group (Nasdaq:EMCI) 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, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, solid stock price performance, reasonable valuation levels and good cash flow from operations. Although the company may harbor some minor weaknesses, we feel they are unlikely to have a significant impact on results.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• EMCI's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 0.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 5.4%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• EMCI's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.09 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels.
• Powered by its strong earnings growth of 80.00% and other important driving factors, this stock has surged by 27.13% 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, EMCI should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year.
• Net operating cash flow has significantly increased by 264.89% to $16.94 million when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, EMC INSURANCE GROUP INC has also vastly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of -25.02%.

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EMC Insurance Group Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides insurance products in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Property and Casualty Insurance, and Reinsurance. The company has a P/E ratio of 13.1, above the average insurance industry P/E ratio of 13 and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. EMC Insurance Group has a market cap of $283.7 million and is part of the financial sector and insurance industry. Shares are up 8.4% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

You can view the full EMC Insurance Group 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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