NEW YORK, June 5, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- StockDiagnostics.com announces that Centurytel, Inc. (NYSE:CTL) sets OPS (Operational-cashflow Per Share) records for its first-quarter and twelve-months ended March 31, 2002. OPS increased 44% for the three months and 27% for 12-months ended March 31, 2002 over the comparable periods ended March 31, 2001.
Centurytel's OPS performance is extremely rare. StockDiagnostics.com cites Centurytel as being one of only sixty-nine public companies out of 7,342 with record OPS in their most recent quarter and trailing 12-months, while also recording positive OPS for at least their last 20 consecutive quarters.
To view four-quarter, 20-quarter, and five-year OPS charts on Centurytel and over 7,300 public companies, go to: http://www.stockdiagnostics.com
For the first-quarter ended March 31, 2002, Centurytel's computed OPS was $1.87, an increase of 44% over its OPS of $1.30 for its first-quarter ended March 31, 2001. In the trailing 12-months ended March 31, 2002, Centurytel's OPS increased 27% to $5.29 as compared to its OPS of $4.16 for the comparable trailing 12-months ended March 31, 2001.
What is OPS?
OPS(TM) stands for "Operational-cashflow Per Share". It is derived from the line item "Cash Flow from Operations" which appears in a company's quarterly and annual Cash Flow Statements filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission. "OPS" is calculated by dividing a company's Cash Flow from Operations by the total number of shares outstanding. After conducting in-depth research on Operational-cashflow Per Share, StockDiagnostics.com determined that OPS can be used to measure the quality of a company's EPS and for monitoring its overall financial health. Cash Flow from Operations is a company's financial lifeblood and a sudden decrease in it can drain this lifeblood, causing an increase in debt, share dilution, share price erosion, and in the more extreme cases, bankruptcy. For more information on OPS go to: http://www.stockdiagnostics.com/member/ops.htm
About StockDiagnostics.com
StockDiagnostics.com has designed and built a proprietary data refinery that automates the process of collecting, sorting, and organizing large amounts of securities pricing and financial data into comparative financial ratios. These ratios are used to identify Financial Statement and securities pricing variances or anomalies and to monitor changes in the performance of public companies.
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OPS, OPS Ratings, and The EPS Syndrome are all Trademarks (TM) of StockDiagnostics.com.