TSC Ratings' Updates: Marathon Oil

TSC Ratings provides exclusive stock, ETF and mutual fund ratings and commentary based on award-winning, proprietary tools. Its "safety first" approach to investing aims to reduce risk while seeking solid outperformance on a total return basis.

The following ratings changes were generated on Tuesday, June 9.

We've upgraded Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated(COKE Quote) from hold to buy, driven by its compelling growth in net income, notable return on equity, good cash flow from operations, expanding profit margins and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally poor debt management on most measures that we evaluated.

Net income increased to $8.53 from -$4.3 million in the same quarter a year ago, outperforming the S&P 500 and the beverages industry. Return on equity also greatly increased, a signal of significant strength within the corporation. Net operating cash flow rose 110.6% to $1.7 million, and the gross profit margin of 48.3% also increased compared with the year-ago quarter. The net profit margin of 2.5%, however, trails the industry average. ...