Can OfficeMax Still Outperform in a Struggling Industry?

With shares of OfficeMax Incorporated (NYSE:OMX) trading around $9.66, is OMX an OUTPERFORM, a WAIT AND SEE, or a STAY AWAY? Let’s analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

E = Equity to Debt Ratio is Not Close to Zero

OfficeMax has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, which looks pretty unattractive when compared to its major competitors. Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE:ODP) clocks in with a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, while Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) leads the category at just 0.27.

It’s also important to consider total cash on hand and total debt, which for OfficeMax is $506.02 million in cash and $971.39 million in debt. Office Depot has total cash of $619.53 million and total debt of $671.11 million, while Staples has $1.02 billion in cash but total debt of $1.66 billion.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart

The company’s stock price was recently 6.29% percent above its 20-day simple moving average, or SMA; 18.75% percent above its 50-day SMA; and 63.78% percent its 200-day SMA.

Since the beginning of 2012 the stock price has been in a fairly pronounced upward trend, rising 114.86% percent this year-to-date and rising 105.73% percent year-over-year.

As a benchmark, the S&P 500 has risen 12.26 percent year-to-date, and has risen 12.18 percent year-over-year.