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1. 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.
Financial Metrics 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.
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. High Potential Neutral Low Potential
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2. Financials & Earnings
Financial Metrics
Financial Metrics Rating
LT Debt/Equity Ratio
Bearish
Price to Book Value GAS's financial metrics are poor. The company generates relatively low free cash
flow relative to market capitalization and may be overvalued.
Return on Equity
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.
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
Earnings Growth
Very Bearish
Earnings Surprise 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 Trend 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,
Projected P/E Ratio a relatively high projected P/E ratio and consistent earnings over the past 5 years.
Earnings Consistency
5 Year Revenue and Earnings Growth EPS Estimates
12/06 12/07 12/08 12/09 12/10 Factor Actual EPS Prev EST EPS Current Change
Revenue(M) 2,960.00 3,176.30 3,776.60 2,652.10 2,709.80 Quarterly EPS $0.87 $0.83 -0.04
Rev % Growth -11.85% 7.31% 18.90% -29.78% 2.18% Yearly EPS $3.02 $2.35 -0.67
EPS $2.88 $2.99 $2.64 $2.99 $3.02 Factor Actual EPS Growth Est EPS Growth Change
EPS % Growth -6.49% 3.82% -11.71% 13.26% 1.00% 3-5 year EPS -2.65% 3.50% +6.15
EPS Surprise 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 -60.00 12/09 $0.97 $0.50 $0.30 $1.22 $2.99
1 Qtr Ago $0.32 $0.42 $0.10 31.25 12/10 $1.33 $0.53 $0.30 $0.87 $3.03
2 Qtr Ago $0.92 $0.98 $0.06 6.52 12/11 $0.98 $0.42 $0.12 - -
3 Qtr Ago $0.93 $0.87 $-0.06 -6.45 Fiscal Year End Month is December.
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3. Price Trend & Expert Opinions
Price/Volume Activity
Price/Volume Activity Rating
Relative Strength vs Market Bearish
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
Price Trend months ago.
Price Trend ROC
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.
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 Value
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% % Change Price - 4 Wks Rel to S&P -1.78% Chaikin Money Flow Persistency 70%
% Change Price - 24 Wks Rel to S&P 8.64%
Expert Opinions
Expert Opinions
Earnings Estimate Revisions Neutral
Short Interest 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.
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
Analyst Opinions
the stock versus the Utility-Gas Distr industry group.
Relative Strength vs Industry
Earnings Estimate Revisions Analyst Recommendations EPS Estimates Revision Summary
Current 7 Days Ago % Change Factor Value Last Week Last 4 Weeks
Current Qtr 0.83 0.83 0.00% Mean this Week Hold Up Down Up Down
Next Qtr - - - Mean Last Week Hold Curr Qtr 0 0 1 0
Curr Yr 0 0 0 2
Current 30 Days Ago % Change Change 0.00
Next Qtr 0 0 0 0
Current FY 2.35 2.49 -0.14 Mean 5 Weeks Ago Hold
Next Yr 0 0 0 0
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4. The Company & Its Competitors
GAS's Competitors in Utility-Gas Distr News Headlines for GAS
Company Power Historic EPS Projected EPS Profit Margin PEG PE Revenue(M) Nicor Declares Special Pro Rata Dividend in
Gauge growth growth Preparation for Completing Merger With AGL
GAS -2.65% 3.50% 4.24% 6.76 23.27 2,710 Resources - Nov 1, 2011
SRE -4.41% 7.00% 13.85% 1.78 11.85 9,003
AGL Resources subsidiary to sell $500M in
notes - Sep 16, 2011
UGI 3.53% 3.20% 3.82% 3.84 13.42 6,091
Nicor 2Q profit falls 21 percent - Aug 3, 2011
WGL 8.67% 5.17% 4.44% 3.33 18.88 - AGL: Some Nicor jobs could be affected by
merger - Jul 14, 2011
OKE 2.61% - 2.29% - 26.22 13,030
Shareholders approve Nicor-AGL merger - Jun
MDU 3.41% 7.00% 5.99% 2.60 17.21 3,910
14, 2011
Company Details Company Profile
NICOR INC Nicor Inc. is a holding company and is a member of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Its
1844 FERRY RD primary business is Nicor Gas, one of the nation's largest natural gas distribution
NAPERVILLE, IL 60566 companies. Nicor owns Tropical Shipping, a containerized shipping business serving the
USA Caribbean region and the Bahamas. In addition, the company owns and has an equity
Phone: 6303059500 interest in several energy-related businesses.
Fax: 630-983-4229
Website: http://http://www.nicor.com
Full Time Employees: 3,800
Sector: Utilities
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.
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LM 2.3 DS 3.0 LS 2.1
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