Stock Upgrades, Downgrades From TheStreet.com Ratings

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 company earnings forecasts. Objective elements include volatility of past operating revenue, financial strength and company cash flows.

Kookmin Bank(KB Quote) provides commercial banking services to individuals and small- and medium-sized businesses in South Korea. It has been upgraded to a hold from a sell. The company's third-quarter revenue grew by 19.3% compared with the same period last year, outpacing the industry average of 16.7%.

Kookmin's earnings grew by 19.1%, or $2.56 per share, in the third quarter, compared with $2.15 a share in the same period last year. This continued a pattern of positive EPS growth over the past year. TheStreet.com believes this trend will continue. The company also shows attractive valuation levels and expanding profit margins. ...