Timberland Co. (NYSE: TBL), manufacturer of outdoor apparel and footwear, reported a 33% drop in revenue back in February, due mainly to a decline in its sales of boots and children's footwear. Seacoastonline.com reported, excluding restructuring costs, the company stated that it earned 52 cents per share in its fourth quarter. That earnings report came in one cent higher than the results expected by analysts polled by Thomson Financial. The company is currently in the process of dual share buy-back plans, initially involving over 12 million shares of it's Class A Common Stock.

While the company has experienced tough times in the marketing of outdoor shoes and boots, the manufacturer reported an increase of approximately 3% in its sales of accessories and apparel, which includes its strong SmartWool socks line. While the company has weathered a drop in domestic same-store sales of more than 9%, Seacoastonline.com reported that sales for the company declined only 5.5% globally in the fourth quarter. Careful watch on the economy might expose this stock as a nice quick pick in the event of a retail turnaround. Timberland is working to revitalize sales by applying additional new focus on footwear aimed at the food service, health care and hospitality industries.

Timberland is currently trading at approximately 50% off its 52-week high of $27.76 per share.

Gary Sattler is a freelance blogger and does not knowingly hold positions in the companies he blogs about.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: McGraw-Hill (MHP), Stein Mart (SMRT), USG Corp (USG) and Seacoast Banking (SBCF) were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• JP Morgan downgraded shares of McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHP) to Neutral from Overweight based on expectations for a decline in credit market issuance activity.

• Stein Mart (NASDAQ: SMRT) was cut to Sell from Neutral at Merrill, citing macroeconomic concerns and the impact on margins and comps.

• Matrix cut USG (NYSE: USG) to Sell from Buy and removed them from the Focus List, Matrix cited the 55% cut in excess cash per share over the past year, which makes shares expensive on a performance-adjusted basis.

• Stifel views Seacoast Banking (NASDAQ: SBCF) as overvalued, downgrading shares to Sell from Hold, given earnings growth headwinds from credit quality and net interest margin compression...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Tenneco Automotive (NYSE: TEN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.

• Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel.

• Keefe Bruyette cut Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) to Underperform from Market Perform.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

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