S&P lifts health companies

Standard & Poor's said it revised its criteria linking short- and long-term credit ratings for corporate and sovereign issuers.

This change, effective May 15, will result in higher short-term ratings for issuers that have exceptional liquidity and investment-grade ratings, the agency said.

"Although the change will affect the short-term ratings of less than 1% of all issuers, health care companies are over represented among the corporate borrowers whose short-term ratings will be upgraded under the new criteria," said S&P credit analyst Michael Kaplan in a news release.

The agency said it is raising the short-term ratings of six health care companies by one notch, to either A-1+ or A-1. The corporate credit rating on all of these companies is either A+ or A-.

Affected are Allergan Inc., Amgen Inc., Becton Dickinson & Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., McKesson Corp. and Stryker Corp.

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