Cooper Tire Downgraded to Sell (Zacks.com)

Thursday June 12, 1:08 pm ET By Paul Raman, CFA Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: CTB - News) specializes in the manufacture and marketing of automotive products. However, a challenging North American auto environment makes us downgrade the stock a Sell with a six-month target price of $7.00. In the first quarter, excluding one-time items, the company reported diluted earnings per share of $0.02 from continuing operations, versus $0.31 from the same in the corresponding quarter of 2007. Net sales in the quarter were $679 million, down $10 million over the prior year period. North American Tire operations recorded a 3% in sales to $498 million from the last year due to the lower unit volumes partially offset by improved mix. The largest volume decreases were in the areas of economy passenger and light truck tires. Sales in... [read full story]