Eli Lilly And Company Stock Buy Recommendation Reiterated (LLY)

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) -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a buy with a ratings score of A . The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance and expanding profit margins. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• Compared to its closing price of one year ago, LLY's share price has jumped by 38.99%, exceeding the performance of the broader market during that same time frame. Regarding the stock's future course, although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, LLY should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year.
• The gross profit margin for LILLY (ELI) & CO is currently very high, coming in at 79.10%. Regardless of LLY's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, the net profit margin of 13.88% trails the industry average.
• LILLY (ELI) & CO' earnings per share from the most recent quarter came in slightly below the year earlier quarter. The company has suffered a declining pattern of earnings per share over the past two years. However, we anticipate this trend to reverse over the coming year. During the past fiscal year, LILLY (ELI) & CO reported lower earnings of $3.66 versus $3.90 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($3.89 versus $3.66).
• LLY, with its decline in revenue, slightly underperformed the industry average of 7.9%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 1.5%. The declining revenue appears to have seeped down to the company's bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
• The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed compared to the Pharmaceuticals industry average, but is greater than that of the S&P 500. The net income has decreased by 3.6% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, dropping from $858.20 million to $827.30 million.

Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceutical products worldwide. Eli Lilly and has a market cap of $62.69 billion and is part of the health care sector and drugs industry. The company has a P/E ratio of 14.8, below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 9.5% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

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

--Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff.

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