Macquarie Quant Model

Macquarie Research Equities have a Quant Model (quantitative alpha model) which "looks at a combination of earnings revisions, composite valuation, price momentum, earnings certainty, consensus recommendation and changes in consensus recommendation." They note the following for this week:

1) Orica (ORI) is ranked 20th out of the 250 stocks in the Australian quant model. It has a positive score on all factors except valuation where it is neutral. Most analysts upgraded earnings for both 2007 and 2008 over the last month. Surprisingly for a stock in the materials sector, it also ranks strongly on the earnings certainty factor.
2) Goodman Fielder (GFF) has moved from a marginally negative quant score a month ago to now be just outside the top 20. Valuations are attractive, with a prospective dividend yield of 6.5% also enhancing its appeal. Recent earnings revisions have been mixed but overall it has had better earnings revisions compared to the average stock.
Key decliners this week:
1)Tower (TWR) has fallen 65 places in the quant model over the last month with analyst sentiment deteriorating. Earnings revisions are slightly negative and the consensus recommendation has been cut over the last month. Price momentum is also poor.
2) Rinker (RIN) is one of the worst ranked stocks in the quant model with poor scores on almost all factors. Negative scores for earnings revisions and recommendation revisions are the main drivers of its poor overall score.