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2-Star Stocks Poised to Plunge: McGraw-Hill?

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 140,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP  ) , parent of embattled ratings agency Standard & Poor's, has received a distressing two-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at McGraw-Hill's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

McGraw-Hill facts

Headquarters (Founded)

New York City (1888)

Market Cap

$8.59 billion

Industry

Media

Business Segments

Education, Financial Services, Information & Media

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$6.08 billion

Management

CEO Harold McGraw, III (since 1998)

CFO Robert Bahash (since 1988)

Revenue and Net Income Growth (Over Past Year)

(8.6%) and (17.3%)

Cash / Debt

$556 million / $1.29 billion

1-Year Return

29.8%

Competitors

Moody's (NYSE: MCO  )

Pearson (NYSE: PSO  )

CAPS Members Bearish on MHP Also Bearish on

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  )

AIG (NYSE: AIG  )

CAPS Members Bullish on MHP Also Bullish on

General Electric (NYSE: GE  )

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ  )

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 8.5% of the 496 members who have rated McGraw-Hill believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bears include All-Star jaygatsby49, who is ranked in the top 2% of our community, and dcrednek.

Just last month, jaygatsby49 highlighted the stock's risk/reward profile as anything but rewarding: "[McGraw-Hill] does not have a lot of upside at the current price, but there is a MASSIVE downside if S&P are found liable for the AAA bond rating for SIVs and other asset backed securities."

In a pitch from later in the month, dcrednek elaborates on the scandalous situation:

McGraw-Hill, parent company of Standard & Poor's, is going to have their hands full getting to the bottom of the current ratings scandal. Looks like Moody's may have some problems and who would imagine that during the earlier part of this decade S&P could be competitive without adopting the same dumb (and possibly fraudulent) rating criteria in order to win business. With all of the uncertainty surrounding S&P I'll play it safe and give its parent a big, fat UNDERPERFORM until further notice.

What do you think about McGraw-Hill, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. The CAPS community is waiting to hear your opinions. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!

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Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Moody's is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor and Inside Value pick. Johnson & Johnson is a selection of Income Investor. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.


Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

  • Report this Comment On October 12, 2009, at 11:25 AM, Roadwarriors57 wrote:

    So then can it also be understood that On CAPS, the other 91.5% of the 496 members who have rated McGraw-Hill believe the stock will OVER perform the S&P 500 going forward?

  • Report this Comment On October 12, 2009, at 1:19 PM, lookswholaughing wrote:

    i take everything motley fool says with a grain of salt,

    them i do my own research and most of the time i just laugh. last week they were pushing cse the next two trading days they went down go figure

  • Report this Comment On October 13, 2009, at 4:30 PM, plange01 wrote:

    moody's will without a doubt go bankrupt over the coming year...

  • Report this Comment On October 14, 2009, at 3:58 PM, Roadwarriors57 wrote:

    If plange01 is right about Moody's then all the more reaon to be bullish on McGraw-Hill as someone has to continue to rate debt so that means even more business and revenues for MHP

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Related Tickers

2/14/2012 1:58 PM
MHP $45.63 Down -0.26 -0.57%
The McGraw-Hill Co… CAPS Rating: **
JNJ $64.50 Down -0.18 -0.28%
Johnson & Johnson CAPS Rating: *****
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PSO $19.01 Up +0.04 +0.21%
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GE $18.90 Down -0.17 -0.89%
General Electric C… CAPS Rating: ****

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