Nicor Inc (GAS)
Price: $55.60
Industry: Utility-Gas Distr Chaikin Power Gauge Report | Generated: Thu Nov 17 14:24 EST 2011 GAS Nicor Inc
$55.60
Power Gauge Rating
GAS - Very Bearish TM
The Chaikin Power Gauge Rating for GAS is very bearish due to very weak earnings performance, poor financial metrics and bearish price/volume activity. GAS's earnings performance is very weak as a result of poor EPS growth over the past 3-5 years and worse than expected earnings in recent quarters.
Financial Metrics
Earnings Performance
Price/Volume Activity
Expert Opinions
News Sentiment Rating
Neutral GAS Nicor Inc
November 01, 2011
TM
Chaikin Sentiment Gauge for GAS is neutral. Stories concerning GAS have a balanced or neutral sentiment.
News Sentiment :Neutral
Power Trend - 5 Year Chart
The Power Gauge distills a 20 factor model into a concise picture of a stock's potential.
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High Potential
Neutral
Low Potential
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Financials & Earnings
Financial Metrics
Financial Metrics Rating
Bearish
LT Debt/Equity Ratio
GAS's financial metrics are poor. The company generates relatively low free cash flow relative to market capitalization and may be overvalued.
Price to Book Value
The rank is based on a low long term debt to equity ratio, high price to book value ratio, low price to sales ratio and relatively low cash flow.
Return on Equity
Price to Sales Ratio
Business Value
Assets and Liabilities
Valuation
Returns
Ratio
TTM
Ratio
TTM
Ratio
TTM
Current Ratio
0.85
Price/Book
2.30
Return on Invest
6.8%
LT Debt/Equity
0.45
Price/Sales
0.93
Return on Equity
9.9%
Earnings Performance
Earnings Performance Rating
Very Bearish
Earnings Growth
GAS's earnings performance has been very weak. The company has a history of weak earnings growth and has not met analysts' earnings estimates.
Earnings Surprise
The rank is based on poor EPS growth over the past 3-5 years, worse than expected earnings in recent quarters, a relatively poor trend in earnings this year, a relatively high projected P/E ratio and consistent earnings over the past 5 years.
Earnings Trend
Projected P/E Ratio
Earnings Consistency
5 Year Revenue and Earnings Growth
EPS Estimates
12/06
12/07
12/08
12/09
12/10
Revenue(M)
2,960.00
3,176.30
3,776.60
2,652.10
2,709.80
Rev % Growth
-11.85%
7.31%
18.90%
-29.78%
2.18%
$2.88
$2.99
$2.64
$2.99
$3.02
-6.49%
3.82%
-11.71%
13.26%
1.00%
EPS EPS % Growth
EPS Surprise
Factor
Actual EPS Prev
EST EPS Current
Change
$0.87
$0.83
-0.04
Quarterly EPS Yearly EPS Factor
$3.02
$2.35
-0.67
Actual EPS Growth
Est EPS Growth
Change
-2.65%
3.50%
+6.15
3-5 year EPS
EPS Quarterly Results Estimate
Actual
Difference
% Difference
FY
Qtr 1
Qtr 2
Qtr 3
Qtr 4
Total
Latest Qtr
$0.30
$0.12
$-0.18
1 Qtr Ago
$0.32
$0.42
$0.10
-60.00
12/09
$0.97
$0.50
$0.30
$1.22
$2.99
31.25
12/10
$1.33
$0.53
$0.30
$0.87
$3.03
2 Qtr Ago
$0.92
$0.98
3 Qtr Ago
$0.93
$0.87
$0.06
6.52
12/11
$0.98
$0.42
$0.12
-
-
$-0.06
-6.45
Fiscal Year End Month is December.
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Price Trend & Expert Opinions Price/Volume Activity
Price/Volume Activity Rating
Bearish
Relative Strength vs Market
Chaikin Money Flow
Price and volume activity for GAS is bearish. GAS is trading on lower volume than its 90 day average volume and is in a decelerating price trend compared to 4 months ago.
Price Trend
The rank for GAS is based on its price strength versus the market, positive Chaikin money flow, a positive Chaikin price trend, a negative Chaikin price trend ROC and a decreasing volume trend.
Price Trend ROC
Volume Trend
Relative Strength vs S&P500 Index
Chaikin Money Flow
Chart shows whether GAS is performing better or worse than the market.
Chaikin Money Flow analyzes supply and demand for a company's stock.
Price Activity
Price Activity
Volume Activity
Factor
Value
Factor
Value
Factor
52 Week High
57.49
% Change Price - 4 Weeks
0.42%
Average Volume 20 Days
253,455
52 Week Low
43.25
% Change Price - 24 Weeks
2.22%
Average Volume 90 Days
348,653
% Change YTD Rel S&P 500
11.85%
Expert Opinions
% Change Price - 4 Wks Rel to S&P
-1.78%
% Change Price - 24 Wks Rel to S&P
8.64%
Value
Chaikin Money Flow Persistency
70%
Expert Opinions
Neutral
Earnings Estimate Revisions
Expert opinions about GAS are neutral. Analysts's opinions on GAS have been more positive recently and insiders are not net buyers of GAS's stock.
Short Interest
Insider Activity
The rank for GAS is based on a low short interest ratio, insiders not purchasing significant amounts of stock, optimistic analyst opinions and relative weakness of the stock versus the Utility-Gas Distr industry group.
Analyst Opinions
Relative Strength vs Industry
Earnings Estimate Revisions Current Current Qtr Next Qtr
0.83 Current
Current FY
2.35
Analyst Recommendations
7 Days Ago % Change 0.83 -
0.00% -
30 Days Ago % Change 2.49
-0.14
Factor Mean this Week Mean Last Week
EPS Estimates Revision Summary Value
Hold 0.00
Mean 5 Weeks Ago
Hold
Last 4 Weeks
Down
Up
Down
Curr Qtr
0
0
1
0
Curr Yr
0
0
0
2
Next Qtr
0
0
0
0
Next Yr
0
0
0
0
Hold
Change
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Last Week Up
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The Company & Its Competitors
News Headlines for GAS
GAS's Competitors in Utility-Gas Distr Company
Power Gauge
Historic EPS growth
Projected EPS growth
Profit Margin
PEG
PE
Revenue(M)
GAS
-2.65%
3.50%
4.24%
6.76
23.27
2,710
SRE
-4.41%
7.00%
13.85%
1.78
11.85
9,003
UGI
3.53%
3.20%
3.82%
3.84
13.42
6,091
WGL
8.67%
5.17%
4.44%
3.33
18.88
-
OKE
2.61%
-
2.29%
-
26.22
13,030
MDU
3.41%
7.00%
5.99%
2.60
17.21
3,910
Nicor Declares Special Pro Rata Dividend in Preparation for Completing Merger With AGL Resources - Nov 1, 2011 AGL Resources subsidiary to sell $500M in notes - Sep 16, 2011 Nicor 2Q profit falls 21 percent - Aug 3, 2011 AGL: Some Nicor jobs could be affected by merger - Jul 14, 2011 Shareholders approve Nicor-AGL merger - Jun 14, 2011
Company Details
Company Profile
NICOR INC 1844 FERRY RD NAPERVILLE, IL 60566 USA Phone: 6303059500 Fax: 630-983-4229 Website: http://http://www.nicor.com Full Time Employees: 3,800 Sector: Utilities
Nicor Inc. is a holding company and is a member of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Its primary business is Nicor Gas, one of the nation's largest natural gas distribution companies. Nicor owns Tropical Shipping, a containerized shipping business serving the Caribbean region and the Bahamas. In addition, the company owns and has an equity interest in several energy-related businesses.
Power Gauge Ratings are created using a relative ranking system that assigns a rank of 0 to 100 (100 being the highest) to each stock in the universe. Rank is calculated by evaluating each of the stocks factors and combining them into a single number using a weighting formula. A stock's rank ranges from 100-0, where 100 is the strongest, and a rank of 95 indicates the stock is better than 95% of the stocks in the universe. Chaikin Stock Research(CSR) is not registered as a securities broker dealer or investment advisor with either the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or with any state securities regulatory authority. CSR is not responsible for trades executed by users of this research report, our web site or mobile app based on the information included herein. The information presented in this report does not represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks or any financial instrument nor is it intended as an endorsement of any security or investment. The information in this report is generic by nature and is not personalized to the specific financial situation of any individual. The user bears complete responsibility for their own investment research and should seek the advice of a qualified investment professional before making any investment decisions. Copyright (c) 1978-(Present) by ZACKS Investment Research, Inc ("ZACKS"). The information, data, analyses and opinions contained herein (1) includes the confidential and proprietary information of ZACKS, (2) may not be copied or redistributed, for any purpose, (3) does not constitute investment advice offered by ZACKS, (4) are provided solely for informational purposes, and (5) are not warranted or represented to be correct, complete, accurate or timely. ZACKS shall not be responsible for investment decisions, damages or other losses resulting from, or related to, use of this information, data, analyses or opinions. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance. ZACKS is not affiliated with Chaikin Power Tools. This report from Chaikin Power Tools is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell securities.
LM 2.3 DS 3.0 LS 2.1
Data Provided by ZACKS Investment Research, Inc., www.zacks.com
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