ARBITRON INC (ARB) - Profit Tracks

Since inception in 1988, the S&P 500 has outperformed the Zacks #5 Rank List - Stocks to Sell Now by 80% annually (+2% versus +10%). While the rest of Wall Street continued to tout stocks during the market declines of the last few years, Zacks told investors which stocks to sell or avoid.

Here is a synopsis of why SHEN and ARB have a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) and should most likely be sold or avoided for the next one to three months. Note that a #5 Strong Sell rating is applied to 5% of all the stocks in the Zacks Rank universe:

Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (SHEN)announ ced third quarter earnings per share of 9 cents on November 3. Quarterly earnings missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by approximately 61%. The average fore cast for the current year fell 13 cents to 86 cents per share in the past month as the 2 covering analysts revised downward.

Arbitron Inc. (ARB)third quarter profit of 9 cents per share, announced on October 26, came in the approximately 29% short of analysts? expectations. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the full year declined 5 cents to a profit of $1.60 in the past couple of months as 1 out of the 3 covering analysts lowered projections. Next year?s estimate declined 13 cents to $1.94 in the same time period.

Here is a synopsis of why CPB and ZEP have a Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) and should also most likely be sold or avoided for the next one to three months. Note that a #4 Sell rating is applied to 15% of all the stocks ranked by Zacks;

Campbell Soup Company (CPB)reported first quarter earnings of 82 cents per share on November 23 that missed analysts? expectation by 1%. Net earnings fell 8% to $279 in the present quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year stands at a profit of $2.51 per share that dropped 4 cents over the past week as all the 16 covering analysts slashed projections.

Zep, Inc. (ZEP)posted a fourth quarter profit of 33 cents per share on October 11 which lagged analyst?s projection by 0.05%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for year ended August 2011 dipped 2 cents to $1.23 per share in the last 7 days as 1 analyst out of 5 reduced forecasts.
 
ARBITRON INC (ARB): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
CAMPBELL SOUP (CPB): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
SHENANDOAH TELE (SHEN): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
ZEP INC (ZEP): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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