NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Two months ago the Federal Aviation Administration began to step up its inspection of United Continental Holdings Inc. after finding repeated violations of mandatory pilot qualification and scheduling requirements, the Wall Street Journal reports. Shares of United Continental closed at $61.16 on Thursday afternoon. In a letter from a high ranking agency official dated February 6, the FAA called for a thorough reconstruction of parts of the process the airline uses to qualify its crew members. The letter, the Journal noted, represents the most detailed inventory yet of the FAA's concerns regarding United's internal safety oversight. The infractions alleged in the FAA letter do not cover four recent and separate "safety events and near misses" outlined in a safety warning sent in January to United pilots. The letter, viewed by the Journal, is not specific about the violations but cover areas such as pilot records and crew-member qualifications which could include issues such as aviators failing to undergo required, periodic check rides that are meant to be overseen by examiners with in a specific time. It could also mean the airline is lacking documentation of the completion of those checks. Scheduling problems are also cited in the letter, the Journal said, which raises the possibility of flying longer than the FAA allows. In March United said it has provided the FAA with "a full outline of our corrective actions," and considers the issue "resolved," the Journal added. For more on United click here. Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates UNITED CONTINENTAL HLDGS INC as a Hold with a ratings score of C+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation: "We rate UNITED CONTINENTAL HLDGS INC (UAL) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed-some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, notable return on equity and good cash flow from operations. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including generally higher debt management risk, unimpressive growth in net income and poor profit margins." Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows: Compared to its closing price of one year ago, UAL's share price has jumped by 36.48%, exceeding the performance of the broader market during that same time frame. Although UAL had significant growth over the past year, our hold rating indicates that we do not recommend additional investment in this stock at the current time. The company's current return on equity greatly increased when compared to its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of significant strength within the corporation. When compared to other companies in the Airlines industry and the overall market, UNITED CONTINENTAL HLDGS INC's return on equity exceeds that of the industry average and significantly exceeds that of the S&P 500. Net operating cash flow has significantly increased by 70.65% to -$98.00 million when compared to the same quarter last year. Despite an increase in cash flow of 70.65%, UNITED CONTINENTAL HLDGS INC is still growing at a significantly lower rate than the industry average of 1571.91%. The change in net income from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the Airlines industry average, but is less than that of the S&P 500. The net income has significantly decreased by 80.0% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $140.00 million to $28.00 million. The debt-to-equity ratio is very high at 5.06 and currently higher than the industry average, implying increased risk associated with the management of debt levels within the company. Along with this, the company manages to maintain a quick ratio of 0.45, which clearly demonstrates the inability to cover short-term cash needs. You can view the full analysis from the report here: UAL Ratings Report Must Read: Warren Buffett's Top 25 Stocks for 2015
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