MDU RESOURCES (MDU) - 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 ATNI and MDU 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:

Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc. (ATNI) posted a third-quarter profit of 41 cents per share on October 28, which lagged analysts expectations by nearly 55%. The full-year average forecast fell by a penny to $2.63 per share from $2.64 in the last 30 days as 1 analyst out of 3 slashed estimates.

MDU Resources Group, Inc.?s (MDU) third-quarter earnings of 41 cents per share, announced on October 28, which came behind the Zacks Consensus Estimate by nearly 3 cents. Revenues for 2010 fell by $31.6 million to $60.8 million. Moreover the diluted net income reduced 32% on a year-over-year basis. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2010 dropped by a penny to a profit of $1.22 per share in the last 30 days which reflected reductions by 2 analysts out of 9.

Here is a synopsis of why ICLR and AMED 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;

ICON plc (ICLR)reported first-quarter earnings of 33 cents per share on October 21, which came in nearly 11% short of analysts? expectations. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year decreased 4 cents to a profit of $1.45 over the past couple of months as 2 analysts out of 12 revised downwards. Next year?s forecast fell 17 cents to $1.50 per share during that period.

Amedisys, Inc.?s (AMED) third-quarter earnings of 89 cents per share, reported on October 26, was 91 cents lower than analysts? projections. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2010 stands at profit of $4.24 per share, 3 cents lower than last month?s forecast as 4 out of the 12 covering analysts pulled back on expectations. Estimate for the following year fell 4 cents to a profit of $3.39 per share in that time span.
 
AMEDISYS INC (AMED): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
ATLANTIC TELE-N (ATNI): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
ICON PLC (ICLR): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
MDU RESOURCES (MDU): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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