BioClinica Inc. Stock Upgraded (BIOC)
NEW YORK (
)
-- BioClinica
(Nasdaq:
) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, 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 somewhat weak growth in earnings per share.
Highlights from the ratings report include:
- BIOC's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 15.4%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 17.2%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
- BIOC's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.03 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. Along with the favorable debt-to-equity ratio, the company maintains an adequate quick ratio of 1.17, which illustrates the ability to avoid short-term cash problems.
- Net operating cash flow has significantly increased by 111.77% to $2.63 million when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, BIOCLINICA INC has also vastly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of -7.86%.
- 35.30% is the gross profit margin for BIOCLINICA INC which we consider to be strong. Regardless of BIOC'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 1.70% trails the industry average.
- Looking at where the stock is today compared to one year ago, we find that it is not only higher, but it has also clearly outperformed the rise in the S&P 500 over the same period, despite the company's weak earnings results. The stock's price rise over the last year has driven it to a level which is somewhat expensive compared to the rest of its industry. We feel, however, that other strengths this company displays justify these higher price levels.
BioClinica, Inc. provides integrated clinical research technology solutions to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies. It also offers its solutions to other organizations, such as contract research organizations (CROs) engaged in clinical studies worldwide. The company has a P/E ratio of 173, above the average health services industry P/E ratio of 33 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. BioClinica has a market cap of $77.5 million and is part of the
sector and
industry. Shares are up 20.6% year to date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.
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