Lecture 4 - The Value Of Stocks Flashcards
IPO
Initial public offering
Underwriting
- Advise the issuing corporation on procedures and financial aspects such as appropriate price
- They buy the issue
- They resell to the public
Secondary markets
Investors trade previously issued securities amongst themselves in the stock exchanges that are secondary markets
Examples of secondary markets
- Exchanges
- Over the counter markets
Exchanges
Buyers and sellers of securities meet in one central location to conduct trades (huge auction markets matching up orders from several investors)
Over the counter (OTC) markets
Dealers at different locations who have an inventory of securities stand ready to buy and sell securities over the counter to investors who come to them and are willing to accept their prices e.g. foreign exchanges, gov bonds, most corporate bonds, NSDAQ
Money markets
Deal in short term debt instruments (<1 year)
Capital markets
Deal in longer term debt and equity instruments (>1 year)
Market capitalisation
- Is the total value of a company’s outstanding shares of stock
- Calculated by multiplying the current stock price by the total number of outstanding shares
- Market cap reflects the market perception of a company’s worth
Earnings per share (EPS)
- EPS is the amount of profit that has been earned for each ordinary share
- A key measure of company’s profitability/actual performance
- It is a measure of a firms ability to pay dividends and provide some retained earnings to plough back into the company
- EPS is calculated by taking the net profit after deducting tax, interest on borrowings and all operating expenses
- The denominator typically represents the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the reporting period
Price/Earnings ratio (P/E)
- Market price of share incorporates all available info by investing public
- So relating this measure with earnings can show what investors believe about the company’s performance
- In practice P/E reflects the market’s view of the company’s growth potential and helps investors decide if a stock is overvalued, undervalued or fairly priced
Historical vs Prospective P/E
- Historical (trailing) P/E ratio is using last years EPS and prospective (forward) P/E using an estimate of EPS for the current year
- For example if a company had 0 EPS last year e.g. breaking even, it’s historical P/E ratio would be undefined or not reported
- However based on expectations of profitability this year:
- If modest profitability is expected, the prospective P/E ratio might be 12
- If much higher profitability is anticipated, the prospective P/E ratio could drop to 6
- This highlights how P/E can vary significantly based on earnings expectations
More on P/E ratio
- P/E of a company also depends on industry’s performance
- Stock market prices increase more than profits when business cycle swings up and fall more than profits in a downturn
- A HIGH historic P/E compared with the industry group suggests either that the company is a leader in its sector or the share is overvalued
- A LOW historic P/E compared with industry group suggests that either a poor performing company or an undervalued share
Dividend yield
- This ratio measures the amount of current income (dividends) an investor receives per unit of investments (the share price)
- A relatively low dividend yield may mean that investors expect dividends to grow rapidly or the share is overvalued
Book Value
- The book value is the net worth (total value of its assets minus its liabilities) of the firm according to the balance sheet
- It provides a measure of the company’s net worth based on historical cost rather than market value
- Book value per share is calculated by dividing the book value of the firm by the number of outstanding shares
- It serves as a fundamental indicator of a company’s health and can be compared to its market value to assess its relative valuation
How is book value calculated
- The book value of a company’s equity is calculated based on the historical cost of its investments
- It reflects the company’s cumulative past investments, adjusted for depreciation and subtracts debt and other liabilities
Price to book value
- The price to book value (P/B) compares a stock’s market price to its book value indicating how much investors are willing to pay for each pound of the company’s net worth
- Book values are useful as benchmark against which we can compare market prices
Book value disadvantages
Book value is not a reliable measure of a company’s current value
Book values do not incorporate inflation
- E.g. a real estate company may own properties recorded at their historical purchase price (book value) but those properties could have significantly appreciated in market value over time
- As a result the company’s market value might be much higher than its book value
Book values typically exclude intangible assets such as trademarks and patents
- E.g. a tech company like Apple may have a relatively low book value (P/B) because most of its assets are intangible e.g. software, patents and brand reputation
- However its market value is significantly higher because investors value its potential for future earnings and market dominance
Doesn’t capture the going concern value
Simply adding book values of assets does not capture the going concern value which is created when a collection of assets is organised into a healthy operating business
Valuation by Comparables
Identifying similar firms as potential comparables and then examining how much investors in these comparables companies pay per dollar of earnings or book value
Features of Valuation by Comparables
- Works best when firms are clustered together by industry or similar companies in the same industry
- The rationale is that in competitive and efficient markets, companies with similar characteristics will have similar values (similar P/E and P/B ratios etc)
- By comparing multiples across similar companies or industries, investors can gain insights into relative valuation, growth potential and market sentiment
- Identify a company’s peers in the industry
- Identify and calculate relevant valuation multiples (ratios used to compare a company’s value to a specific financial metric, such as earnings, revenue, or book value
- Common valuation multiples include the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, price-to-sales (P/S) ratio, price to cash flows, and price-to-book (P/B) ratio
- These multiples help investors assess a company’s valuation relative to its peers or the broader market
Valuation by Comparables (not only intrinsic value)
- Compare with similar or comparable assets (stocks with similar risks)
- Corporate world bases a lot of its valuation on discounted cash flow (DCF) techniques
- However a DCF analysis about corporate value needs high quality forecasts (about growth rate, cost of capital etc)
- Comparing companies’ multiples improves the accuracy of these forecasts