Moody's Raises Hill-Rom Holdings Outlook to Stable (HRC)

3/15/2010-Shares of Hill-Rom Holdings (NYSE: HRC) are trading 0.5% higher to $27.30 Monday after Moody's Investors Service raised its outlook on the company's Baa3 rating to stable, reducing the near-term chance the medical-equipment maker would be cut to junk territory, saying its debt repayment should help it maintain strong-enough cash flow.

Analyst Diana Lee remarked, "Moody's expects Hill-Rom to remain focused on optimizing its organic growth before seeking additional acquisition opportunities. Although Hill-Rom's sales growth has been hit by reduced hospital capital spending, we anticipate that these spending levels will gradually recover over the next 12 to 18 months."

Write to Chip Brian at cbrian@tradethetrend.com

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