TheStreet.com Ratings: Stock Upgrades, Downgrades

Each weekday, TheStreet.com Ratings updates its ratings on the stocks it covers. The proprietary ratings model projects a stock's total return potential over a 12-month period including both price appreciation and dividends. Buy, hold or sell ratings designate how the Ratings group expects these stocks to perform against a general benchmark of the equities market and interest rates.

While the ratings model is quantitative, it uses both subjective and objective elements. For instance, subjective elements include expected equities market returns, future interest rates, implied industry outlook and forecasted company earnings. Objective elements include volatility of past operating revenue, financial strength and company cash flows.

TheStreet.com Ratings has initiated coverage of Argentina's Banco Macro(BMA Quote) with a sell rating. Although earnings per share nearly doubled in the past fiscal year, the company is currently trading at a significant premium to its peers in the commercial banking industry. Banco Macro's price-to-earnings ratio stands at 18.4, compared to the industry average of 15.1. The market is expecting the company's earnings to contract 14.9% in the coming year.

Illumina(ILMN Quote) has been downgraded to a sell from a hold. The company makes tools for genetic analysis. Illumina lost $5.58 a share in the first quarter of fiscal 2007, after breaking even in the same quarter a year ago. TheStreet.com Ratings feels the company is likely to report further losses in the coming year. Illumina's debt-to-equity ratio is higher than the life sciences tools and services industry average. ILMN had been rated a hold since February 2007. ...