Brigus Gold Corp Stock Upgraded (BRD)

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) -- Brigus Gold (AMEX: BRD) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from sell to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and attractive valuation levels. However, as a counter to these strengths, we find that the stock has had a generally disappointing performance in the past year.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• BRD's very impressive revenue growth greatly exceeded the industry average of 21.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues leaped by 56.8%. 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.
• The current debt-to-equity ratio, 0.32, is low and is below the industry average, implying that there has been successful management of debt levels.
• Net operating cash flow has increased to $4.14 million or 30.48% when compared to the same quarter last year. Despite an increase in cash flow, BRIGUS GOLD CORP's cash flow growth rate is still lower than the industry average growth rate of 41.95%.
• The change in net income from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the Metals & Mining industry average, but is less than that of the S&P 500. The net income has significantly decreased by 33.3% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $13.07 million to $8.72 million.
• The share price of BRIGUS GOLD CORP has not done very well: it is down 18.75% and has underperformed the S&P 500, in part reflecting the company's sharply declining earnings per share when compared to the year-earlier quarter. The fact that the stock is now selling for less than others in its industry in relation to its current earnings is not reason enough to justify a buy rating at this time.

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Brigus Gold Corp. engages in the exploration, development, extraction, processing, and refining gold mineral deposits primarily in Canada. It produces gold and silver. The company has a P/E ratio of 12.9, below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Brigus has a market cap of $232.7 million and is part of the basic materials sector and metals & mining industry. Shares are up 6.7% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

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

-- Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff

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.

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