The Basics Of Value Investing

Value Investing refers to a philosophy or practice of buying
stocks that are fundamentally sound, but the stock price is
below its obvious value There are various indicators that Value
Investors use to determine that a company is both sound and the
stock price is undervalued For the Value Investor, perhaps more
than any other style of investor, is more concerned with the
business and its fundamentals than other influences on the
stock’s price
Fundamentals, such as dividends, earnings growth, cash flow,
and book value are more critical than market forces on the
stock’s price Value investors are generally buy and hold
investors They will hold a stock for long term periods and are
not concerned with short term swings in the stock price
When the Value Investor determines that the fundamentals are
sound, but the stock is trading at a price below its obvious
value, he or she knows that this is a potential investment
candidate The assumption is that the market has incorrectly
undervalued the stock Conversely, when the market corrects that
mistake, the stock’s price should increase towards the obvious
value point
How do Value Investors find a potential investment?
- price to earnings ratio is in the bottom 10 percentile for its
sector
- debt to equity ratio is less than 1
- price to book value ratio is less than 1
- PEG value of less than 1
- Stock value is trading at 60-70% of its intrinsic value
The P/E (Price to Earnings Ratio) is calculated by dividing the
current price of the stock by the annual earnings per share The
higher the P/E the more earnings growth investors will expect
and the higher premium they are willing to pay for that
anticipated growth
Debt to equity is calculated by dividing the total liabilities
by the shareholders equity
Price to Book Value is calculated by taking the current price
per share and dividing by the book value per share
The PEG is calculated by taking the P/E and dividing it by the
projected growth in earnings
The intrinsic value of a stock is a complicated process and is
considered an inexact science by most investors The intrinsic
value of a company or an asset is generally determined based on
an underlying perception of the value Brand Name, Goodwill, and
barriers to entry in a market are some of the factors that will
determine the intrinsic value of a stock You may be interested
in looking at MorningStarcom for helping you determine a stocks
intrinsic value They calculate a number called “fair value”
which is similar to intrinsic value
Many investors have increase their wealth substantially using a
value-based approach to investing This overview of Value
Investing suggests a philosophy that works well over time if you
buy carefully and use patience to hold for the long term

Tags | buying, dividends, equity, intrinsic, investing, investors, liabilities, percentile, shareholders, stock, total