HRC Remains Morgan Keegan's Favorite Market Perform-Rated Stock

Hill-Rom Holdings Inc. HRC remains Morgan Keegan's favorite Market Perform-rated stock in its universe. “We expect Hill-Rom to report solid results for the fiscal first–quarter on January 27,” Morgan Keegan writes. “In particular, we believe that there could be upside to Street EPS estimate of $0.45 (MK $0.50), which should be a positive catalyst for the shares. “We are forecasting 290 bps of operating margin improvement year-over-year, and are estimating that every 20 bps of operating margin improvement adds $0.02 to our EPS estimate. “And while we fully expect the quarterly results to be ahead of the consensus, and for the stock to trade up after the quarter, it should be expected that EPS outperformance is a bit more limited than in the past as margin expansion moderates.” Hill-Rom Holdings closed Wednesday at $39.90.