Energen Corp Stock Downgraded (EGN)

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) -- Energen (NYSE:EGN) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from buy to hold. Among the primary strengths of the company is its expanding profit margins over time. At the same time, however, we also find weaknesses including feeble growth in the company's earnings per share, deteriorating net income and disappointing return on equity.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• 42.60% is the gross profit margin for ENERGEN CORP which we consider to be strong. Despite the high profit margin, it has decreased significantly from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, the net profit margin of 0.70% trails the industry average.
• EGN, with its decline in revenue, underperformed when compared the industry average of 4.2%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues fell by 22.0%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
• EGN's debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62 is somewhat low overall, but it is high when compared to the industry average, implying that the management of the debt levels should be evaluated further. Even though the debt-to-equity ratio shows mixed results, the company's quick ratio of 0.25 is very low and demonstrates very weak liquidity.
• 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 Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 97.7% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $87.60 million to $2.05 million.
• 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. In comparison to the other companies in the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry and the overall market, ENERGEN CORP's return on equity is significantly below that of the industry average and is below that of the S&P 500.

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Energen Corporation, an energy holding company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the continental United States. The company has a P/E ratio of 12.8, equal to the average energy industry P/E ratio and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Energen has a market cap of $3.72 billion and is part of the basic materials sector and energy industry. Shares are up 2.1% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

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

-- Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff

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