- rating
- An evaluation of credit quality of a company's debt issue by Thomson Financial BankWatch, Moody's, S&P, and Fitch Investors Service. investors and analysts use ratings to assess the riskiness of an investment. Ratings can also be an evaluation a country's creditworthiness or ability to repay, taking into consideration its estimated percentage default rate and political risk. Bloomberg Financial Dictionary————A grade - usually denoted by a letter or series of letters - signifying a security's investment quality. Exchange Handbook Glossary
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rating rat‧ing [ˈreɪtɪŋ] noun1. [countable] a level on a scale that shows how good, important, or popular something or someone is:• The President's popularity rating has never been higher.
• The show is several ratings points ahead of its nearest rival.
a measure of the average number of people watching or listening to a TV or radio programme at a particular timeseˈcurity ˌrating [countable]COMPUTING a measurement of how well a computer or computer network protects private data:• Windows NT has a C2 security rating.
2. [countable] FINANCE a measurement of the risk of lending to a company etc, calculated by an independent organization called a Ratings Agency:• Standard and Poor's downgraded (= reduced ) the rating on Pacific's commercial paper to single-A-3 from single-A-2.
• Moody's upgraded (= improved ) its rating on Disney's senior debt to double-A-3 from single-A-2.
AAˈA ˌrating [countable] FINANCEa credit rating that can be given to a share, bond, or bank by US credit rating agencies such as Standard and Poor's or Moody's, indicating that it is considered to be a very safe investment:• The bank had AAA debt ratings from both Standard & Poor's and Moody's.
ˈBest ˌrating [countable] INSURANCEin the US, a measurement of an insurance company's financial strength. The top rating is A+:• 20% of life insurers hold the top Best rating.
ˈcredit ˌrating [countable] FINANCEa calculation of a company's or government's financial strength and the risk of it not being able to repay loans or pay suppliers when it should:• Chrysler's credit rating dropped to junk-bond levels when the company was virtually bankrupt.
• Some analysts believe that Mexico's credit rating will be upgraded (= increased ) to investment grade in the near future.
• Standard & Poor is downgrading (= decreasing ) the credit rating for Sun Alliance Group to double-A-plus from triple-A.
ˈdebt ˌrating [countable] FINANCEa calculation of the ability of a company or government to pay interest on its debts and to repay them:• Following the missed payment, Moody's downgraded its debt rating.
• Standard & Poor's has upgraded the debt ratings of Penn Traffic to single-B-minus from triple-C-plus because of improved operating performance.
ˌStandard & ˈPoor's ˌrating [uncountable] FINANCEthe class in which bonds are placed according to the risk involved in investing in them3. [countable] FINANCE an estimate of the future profitability of investing in a particular company:• Kidder Peabody recommended Texas Instruments stock, which carries the firm's highest investment rating.
ˈbond ˌrating [countable] FINANCEthe level of risk of a particular bond not being repaid, or of interest payments not being made:• If the state continues to overspend, its bond rating could drop to single-A.
ˈbuy ˌrating [countable] FINANCEa dealer's advice that investors should buy a particular company's shares, and that those who already own some should buy more:• Medtronic jumped 3¾ to 115 after Dean Witter Reynolds repeated a buy rating on the stock.
ˈhold ˌrating [countable] FINANCEa dealer's advice to holders of a particular company's shares telling them not to sell the shares they have, nor to buy any more shares in that company:• Some believe Goodyear's situation will improve. Morgan Stanley's Mr Merlis, for example, changed his `hold' rating on Goodyear to a `buy'.
seˈcurity ˌrating [countable]FINANCE a measurement of the risk of investing in a particular company:• Analysts gave the company a security rating indicating `questionable financial security'.
ˈsell ˌrating [countable] FINANCEa dealer's advice to holders of a particular company's shares to sell them:• The stock came under pressure last week after Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating on the stock while First Boston reiterated (= repeated ) its `sell' rating.
4. also inˈsurance ˌrating [countable] INSURANCE a measurement of the risk of loss, used to calculate how much will be charged for insuranceˈfleet ˌrating [countable] INSURANCEa special low rate charged by an insurance company for insuring a group of vehicles or ships owned by one company5. the ratings [plural] a measurement of how many people watch a television programme or listen to a radio programme:• CBS Evening News slipped to second place in the ratings.
• NBC's ratings dropped 3% in November.
6. [countable] the class in which a ship or machine is placed, according to its size* * *
rating UK US /ˈreɪtɪŋ/ noun [C or U]► a measurement of the quality or success of something, or of particular features it has, especially when compared with other things of the same type: get/receive/be awarded a rating »The game was awarded a five-star rating by Gamer magazine.
approval/popularity rating »The president's approval rating was around 60%.
»a high/excellent/positive rating
»a low/poor rating
a 30%/9 point/3-star, etc. rating »Consumers gave the product a 7.5 point rating on a scale of 1 to 10.
a rating scale/system »There is currently a voluntary rating system in place for violence on TV.
► FINANCE, STOCK MARKET a calculation by a ratings agency of the level of risk of an investment or loan: »cut/downgrade/lower a rating
»raise/lift/upgrade a rating
»have/maintain a rating
»A policy condition is that the securities must be rated in the four top rating categories by S&P or Moody's.
► INSURANCE a calculation by an insurance company of how much someone should pay for insurance, based on the level of risk involved: »The proposed change in the city's flood insurance rating could reduce premiums by 5%.
»calculate/have/receive a rating
► COMMERCE, ENVIRONMENT a number or letter showing how powerful something such as a piece of electrical equipment is, how much electricity it uses, etc. so that consumers can compare products: »These green mortgages are available only to those buying a new home with a high energy efficiency rating.
→ See also AAA(Cf. ↑AAA), AVERAGE AUDIENCE RATING(Cf. ↑average audience rating), BEST'S RATING(Cf. ↑Best's rating), BOND RATING(Cf. ↑bond rating) noun, BUY RATING(Cf. ↑buy rating), CREDIT RATING(Cf. ↑credit rating), DEBT RATING(Cf. ↑debt rating), FLEET RATING(Cf. ↑fleet rating), HOLD RATING(Cf. ↑hold rating), SECURITY RATING(Cf. ↑security rating), SELL RATING(Cf. ↑sell rating), STANDARD AND POOR'S(Cf. ↑Standard and Poor's)
Financial and business terms. 2012.
