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AFG’s Custom Screening Process Step 3 – Eliminating Poor Management Quality Firms
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AFG’s Custom Screening Process Step 2 – Combining Valuation With Expected Economic Margin Improvement
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Cheapest Stocks In The S&P 500 – Including Apollo Group Inc., (NASDAQ:APOL) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)
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Attractive Stocks from Every S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) Sector – Including Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) and Corning Inc. (NYSE:GLW)
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Hot and Cold Stocks From Every Sector (ex. Financials) - Including Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ) and Conoco Phillips (NYSE:COP)
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Best Stocks Since Obama’s Election – Including Freeport-McMoran C & G (NYSE:FCX) Cognizant Tech (NASDAQ:CTSH)
With 2009 winding down and a full year in the books for the current administration, we have provided a breakdown of the best performing stocks since President Obama was sworn in as President on November 4, 2008.
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Cheapest Stocks In The S&P 500 – Including Freeport McMoran C&G (NYSE:FCX) and Fluor Corp. (NYSE:FLR)
To identify potentially attractive investment ideas, The Applied Finance Group (AFG) usually uses a combination of proprietary variables to develop a focused group of potential buy ideas that meet criteria based on valuation, economic performance, management quality, and earnings quality. Although this set of investment criteria has proven successful in generating buy ideas, AFG’s valuation on a standalone basis has consistently been able to identify mispriced securities and investment opportunities that outperform their chosen benchmark.
Several times over the last year ValueExpectations.com has released lists of companies narrowed only by the valuation properties of the company using AFG’s Value Score (defined below). Today, we will revisit these blog posts and compare the performance results of the companies previously identified to the results of their benchmarks.
Below is an update of the performance of the articles we have released where companies were identified by using AFG's valuation metric as the sole variable. Included in this table is the blog portfolio's performance, the performance of the index, and the spread relative to the index. The performance of all portfolios and their benchmarks are tracked from the date of the blog's release until last Friday's close. As you can see in the table below, companies identified by AFG as having an attractive valuation have performed quite well and have consistently outperformed their benchmarks.
Below is an updated list of the S&P 500 companies with the most attractive valuations according to AFG’s valuation model including Freeport McMoran C&G (NYSE:FCX) and Fluor Corp. (NYSE:FLR).
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Applied Finance Group’s (AFG’s) Value Score defined - A score which represents the ranked percent to target (deviation between stock’s current trading price and AFG’s current default target price) or attractiveness (upside) relative to the universe. A Value Score of 100 is the most undervalued and 0 is the most overvalued company in the universe.
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Sales Growth Expectations of S&P 500’s Top Performers – Including Cognizant Tech Sol. (NASDAQ:CTSH)
Using The Applied Finance Group's (AFG's) Value Expectations interface we have provided an analysis of the expectations embedded in the stock prices of some of the top performers in the S&P 500 year to date (excluding financials) to see which companies have the lowest expectations for sales growth (VE Sales Growth) relative to what the company has been able to deliver historically (5 Year Median Sales Growth).
AFG’s Value Expectations interface provides clients a platform to better understand economic profitability, and at the same time understand the performance a company must deliver to justify its current stock price. By understanding the embedded expectations a company must deliver to justify their current trading price, clients can develop a “hurdle rate” to quickly determine if the company’s expectations are rich or low. Take, for example, the typical company during the tech bubble: the expectations that were priced into the average tech stock far exceeded what it could realistically deliver. For this reason, AFG identified the technology sector as overvalued, as well as potential torpedoes such as Cisco, whose expectations were unrealistically high.
By gaining a better understanding of the embedded expectations built in to security prices, relative to what a company has delivered historically, can provide insight into the Sales Growth, EBITDA Margin, and Asset Turnover a company must deliver in the future to justify its current trading price. In many circumstances, if the imbedded future performance is very conservative relative to the company’s historical performance, the stock is regarded as undervalued.
The top performers of the S&P 500 listed below are ranked based on valuation attractiveness using The Applied Finance Group’s valuation model. You would like to look for companies with attractive valuations and modest expectations for revenue growth relative to what the company has been able to achieve over the past five years when looking for potential investment opportunities as these types of companies have proven through time to outperform firms with the opposite characteristics.
If you would like to view some of the favorite long and short investment ideas provided by professional investors click here to view the results for AFG's Market Forecast Project.
Sales Growth Expectations of S&P 500 Top Performers of 2009
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Source: EconomicMargin.com
AFG's Valuation Metric – Measures the percent to target (deviation between a stock’s current trading price and its AFG current default target price). To derive the intrinsic value of a firm, AFG uses its proprietary Valuation Model (modified discounted cash flow model).
Economic Margin - A corporate performance measurement that addresses the gaps in GAAP, eliminating distortions caused by accounting policies to measure what a company is truly earning above or below their cost of capital.
Management Quality – Assesses management’s ability to make wealth creating decisions.
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Attractive Large-Cap Opportunities – Including Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE:KSS) Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)
The Applied Finance Group (AFG) has a disciplined approach for identifying companies that are expected to outperform and underperform the market by using proprietary metrics and measurements that have been tested and proven through time. Because AFG’s research is fundamentally derived, AFG’s quantitative analysis spans across growth and value stocks, all sectors, industries, and market caps with over 20,000 covered securities globally.
When searching for Large-Cap ideas, AFG’s Buy/Sell list is a good starting place as it has proven to create a significant spread in performance between companies that come up on AFG’s buy list and those on the sell list. Further focusing on companies based on AFG’s proprietary screening criteria (Economic Margin, valuation, quality of earnings, and management’s ability to create shareholder wealth) will save investors time in their research process. The result is a target group of stocks that can help you outperform as well as identify potential torpedoes to avoid in your portfolios.
Below is a list of attractive companies in the S&P 500 from each major AFG sector (excluding financials). It serves as a focus list of companies for investors to begin with as they meet AFG’s criteria to be an attractive opportunity. They are more likely to outperform their sector peers and the S&P 500, the benchmark that AFG’s clients most often compare themselves with.
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Source: EconomicMargin.com
AFG's Valuation Metric – Measures the percent to target (deviation between a stock’s current trading price and its AFG current default target price). To derive the intrinsic value of a firm, AFG uses its proprietary Valuation Model (modified discounted cash flow model).
Economic Margin - A corporate performance measurement that addresses the gaps in GAAP, eliminating distortions caused by accounting policies to measure what a company is truly earning above or below their cost of capital.
Management Quality – Assesses management’s ability to make wealth creating decisions.
+View our List of Value Expectations Recommended Articles
AFG Recommendation Performance
9/1998 – 5/2009
Annualized Returns
Source: AFGView client databases from 9/1998 – 5/2009
Universe size: 4,000 to 5,500 firms
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As the Dollar Weakens Buy S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) Stocks With Foreign Exposure
In a recent Article by John Tamny, Forbes: To Fix The Global Economy, Fix The Dollar, the effects of a weakening dollar on the U.S. Economy were nicely summarized “When money loses value, it's the equivalent of governments raising the rate at which we pay income taxes. But with taxes, we can at least see how much the government is removing from each paycheck.”
A weakling dollar will likely be followed with higher inflation. Although there are some who believe that a weaker dollar will strengthen our exports, the reality is that companies will be spending more to produce their goods and investors will require higher nominal pre-tax rates of return. Furthermore, an increase in the overall cost of capital for equities will result in less business expansion as companies must pay more to source their funds.
So how do investors deal with a sluggish economy and declining dollar? As the U.S. economy faces many headwinds with a declining dollar, we recommend high quality, well managed, attractively-priced businesses with high foreign exposure. Companies with a significant overseas exposure will likely benefit from currency appreciation against the dollar making sales in those currencies especially valuable.
Using AFG’s proprietary research we thought we would provide you a solid list of well managed businesses, in the S&P 500 that also have over 50% in foreign sales.
Using AFG’s proprietary research we thought we would provide you a solid list of well managed businesses, in the S&P 500 that also have over 50% in foreign sales.
| Attractive Companies In The S&P with High Foreign Sales | ||||
| Ticker | Name | Foreign Sales % | EM Signal | Valuation Signal |
| AES | AES CORP THE | 82.9185 | Positive | Positive |
| CL | COLGATE-PALMOLIVE CO | 76.7004 | Positive | Positive |
| SE | SPECTRA ENERGY CORP | 71.9551 | Positive | Positive |
| GLW | CORNING INC | 70.8978 | Positive | Positive |
| HPQ | HEWLETT-PACKARD CO | 68.7979 | Positive | Positive |
| TAP | MOLSON COORS BREWING CLB | 68.4812 | Positive | Positive |
| DOW | DOW CHEMICAL CO THE | 67.9052 | Positive | Positive |
| CVX | CHEVRON CORP | 67.6507 | Positive | Positive |
| WU | WESTERN UNION CO THE | 66.6793 | Positive | Positive |
| DO | DIAMOND OFFSHRE DRILLING | 59.2788 | Positive | Positive |
| IBM | INTERNAT BUSINESS MACHNS | 58.6122 | Positive | Positive |
| PFE | PFIZER INC | 57.688 | Positive | Positive |
| FCX | FREEPORT-MCMORAN C & G | 57.2432 | Positive | Positive |
| EBAY | EBAY INC | 53.5258 | Positive | Positive |
| XRX | XEROX CORP | 50.4819 | Positive | Positive |
Source: The Applied Finance Group
Valuation Signal – Measures the percent to target (deviation between a stock’s current trading price and its AFG current default target price). To derive the intrinsic value of a firm, AFG uses its proprietary Valuation Model (modified discounted cash flow model).
Economic Margin (EM) Signal- A corporate performance measurement that addresses the gaps in GAAP, eliminating distortions caused by accounting policies to measure what a company is truly earning above or below their cost of capital.
For further guidance, we decided to contact John Tamny to ask him for his insights on what kind of stocks investors should be looking at?
John Tamny: If the dollar continues to weaken, investors will want to be in companies that are rewarded for finding physical assets of the earth (oil, gold, various commodities and businesses that serve commodity companies), while if the dollar were to strengthen or stabilize, investors would more want to be in intellectual companies such as software and other innovations
On Wednesday November 18th, Mr. Tamny, Toreador Economic Advisor and Forbes columnist will be discussing many of the reasons why a declining dollar has been hurting the growth of the US Economy along with:
• Should the dollar move to a gold standard?
• Is a trade "deficit" bad for the US Economy?
• Why a stable dollar is an essential input when it comes to economic growth.
Click here to get a replay of this talk!!
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Top S&P 500 YTD Returns – Which Companies/Sectors Have Performed Best So Far - Including Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE:JWN)
With 3 Quarters of 2009 now in the books, we thought it would be timely to provide a list of the top 20 performers in the S&P 500 so far this year to give investors an idea of which stocks have been doing well. Along with the list of top 20 performing companies, we have also provided a breakdown of the average return by sector as defined by AFG vs. the entire S&P 500 index to show which sectors have been leading the way. Also by using The Applied Finance Group’s (AFG's) research and valuation model we have provided further analysis on 4 of the top performing companies, 2 that we find attractive going forward and 2 that we find unattractive, based on valuation attractiveness, expected improvement in economic profitability and the overall investment attractiveness, which is based on various criteria AFG uses when identifying long/short opportunities.
Top 20 Performers In S&P 500 YTD (Total Return)
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2009 YTD Sector performance (average return %) in S&P 500
Here are a few companies from the list of top 2009 returns and we view these companies going forward based on valuation, Economic Margin Improvement, and other criteria AFG uses to value securities.
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Basic Materials Sector - Attractive to Investor's
The Applied Finance Group’s (AFG) Market Forecast Project is a monthly poll of professional investor’s designed to provide insights on how investor’s currently view the market and economy. This poll started out as an AFG client only poll at AFG’s annual research summit, but due to its popularity and successful predictions it has been expanded to all professional investors who register and participate and will be done monthly. The benefit of participation is being the first to receive the results before they are released on our blog or to anyone else. Earlier this month as a result of one of the poll’s questions that the Tech sector was the most attractive sector to invest in over the next 12 months, we released a list of Tech stocks that we like and a few that looked overvalued as well. In last month’s survey the Basic Material sector was the second most attractive place to invest due to the fact that many investors see an economic recovery ahead that may directly benefit many of the companies within the Materials sector when home building and new construction begin to correct and recover. Provided below is a list of Basic Material stocks that we find attractive and unattractive based on AFG’s default buy/sell criteria, valuation attractiveness and expected change in Economic Margins (AFG’s measure of corporate performance/profitability). Companies expected to improve Economic Margins greater than sector peers have proven through back-tests to be the most likely companies to outperform. Companies with attractive default valuations according to AFG have also consistently outperformed companies AFG views as overvalued.
Source (The Applied Finance Group)
*Valuation & EM Change are Ranks within their sector
AFG's Buy/Sell Criteria - factors in Economic Margin, Management Quality, and AFG's Valuation Metric. In order to determine Management Quality, AFG scores management on their growth decisions in accordance with the company’s ability to either create or destroy wealth. AFG's Valuation Metric measures a company's Percent to Target (the deviation between a stock's current trading price and its AFG current default target price). To derive the intrinsic value of a firm, AFG uses its proprietary Valuation Model.
If you are a professional investor and would like to be a part of our next survey click here.
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Analyzing the Earnings Quality of Companies Set to Report
Understanding the amount of accruals a company has on its books and the quality of its reported earnings is especially important during earnings season, as poor earnings quality companies are more likely to have negative earnings surprises and underperform as a result. With so many companies reporting earnings this week, we wanted to share an analysis of their earnings quality based on The Applied Finance Group’s Earnings Quality score. AFG’s Earnings Quality variable is based on the concept of accruals and is an important indicator, which helps to differentiate between companies with poor and high quality of reported earnings. Watch out for firms with poor EQ score – make sure they are not trying to pad their sales numbers through channel stuffing, for example.
*Source: www.afgview.com
Two ways to approach accruals:
1. Cash Flow Statement
•Difference between Net Income and Cash Flow
2. Balance Sheet
•Change in Net Operating Assets from Period t-1 to t
•Net Operating Asset equals Total Assets Less Cash, Less Non-Debt Liabilities (excl. Minority Interest)
• Our studies show that the Balance Sheet approach is superior to the Cash Flow Statement approach.
• We found the Balance Sheet approach is also easier to expand to international companies.
• Low Accrual companies outperform high accrual companies
Here is a look at how well the Earnings Quality variable works when you split top half vs. bottom half in each sector/style universe.
Source: AFGView client databases from 9/1998 - 5/2009 Universe size: 4,000 to 5,500 firms
Here is a look at an example of a poor Earnings Quality company that has a negative earning surprise and thus underperforms.
Eastman Kodak
• Other Liabilities declined in Q308, leading to high accruals – change in licensing agreement required immediate recognition of deferred revenue.
• Eastman Kodak (EK) subsequently missed earnings in Q408.
• EK’s stock dropped 29% on January 28th, when Q408 earnings were announced.
• EK has underperformed the S&P500 by almost 70% since January 28th.
source: www.economicmargin.com
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S&P 500 Top 10 Returns 2009 YTD
Now that we are more than halfway through 2009, It is an excellent time to highlight the top performers in the S&P 500 year-to-date and see which companies look the most attractive according to The Applied Finance Group (AFG). AFG’s valuation techniques have proven successful since 1996 at identifying mispriced securities and helping their clients take advantage of those market inefficiencies. Beyond valuation AFG helps clients understand the true economic profitability a company earns by using their Economic Margin methodology.
Economic Margin (EM) corrects distortions caused by traditional accounting policies to give a more accurate assessment of a company's true profitability. It is important to understand the direction a company's EM's are heading because companies expected to improve their Economic Margins have proven to be more likely to outperform than those with EM’s expected to deteriorate. The EM Framework addresses profitability, competition, growth and cost of capital. When factoring in each of these variables, investors can fully assess a company's value.
AFG's Buy/Sell criteria factors in Economic Margin, Management Quality, and AFG's Valuation Metric. In order to determine Management Quality, AFG scores management on their growth decisions in accordance with the company’s ability to either create or destroy wealth. AFG's Valuation Metric measures a company's Percent to Target (the deviation between a stock's current trading price and its AFG current default target price). To derive the intrinsic value of a firm, AFG uses its proprietary Valuation Model.
AFG's Valuation Metric – Measures the percent to target (deviation between a stock’s current trading price and its AFG current default target price). To derive the intrinsic value of a firm, AFG uses its proprietary Valuation Model (modified discounted cash flow model).
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Companies Reporting Earnings: Week of July 20 (Part 1)
With a major week of earnings right around the corner, we thought it would be useful to our readers to provide an analysis of the companies set to report in the first half of next week. This analysis contains a breakdown of each company's default recommendation according to AFG's Buy/Sell criteria, a look at their valuation attractiveness, and a look at the direction their Economic Margin's are expected to head in the upcoming year. The three companies that look the most attractive based on these criteria are Pfizer, Advanced Micro Devices and Boston Scientific.
A company's Economic Margin (EM) is a measurement of a their true earnings above or below their cost of capital. EM also corrects distortions caused by accounting policies to give a more accurate assessment of a company's real value. It is important to understand the direction a company's EM's are heading because, by knowing this, one can get a complete assessment of how profitable a company can be in the future. The EM Framework addresses profitability, competition, growth and cost of capital. When factoring in each of these variables, investors can fully assess a company's value.
Below is the list of companies reporting earnings in the first half of the upcoming week along with a closer look at Boston Scientific:
According to the chart below, BSX's intrinsic value is above its current stock price, which leads us to believe that Boston Scientific is undervalued right now.
According to the Wealth Creation chart below, BSX has shown a positive Economic Margin and is forecasted to improve that margin in the upcoming year.
Source: Www.EconomicMargin.com
AFG's Buy/Sell criteria factor in Economic Margin, Management Quality, and AFG's Valuation Metric. In order to determine Management Quality, AFG scores management on their growth decisions in accordance with the company’s ability to either create or destroy wealth. AFG's Valuation Metric measures a company's Percent to Target (the deviation between a stock's current trading price and its AFG current default target price). To derive the intrinsic value of a firm, AFG uses its proprietary Valuation Model.
AFG's default valuation is a good place to start because it is a simple metric that gives a more accurate outlook on a company's value while correcting distortions.
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AFG’s Intrinsic Value Chart identifies how far a stock’s intrinsic value (target price assuming immediate decay) deviates from its trading range, which helps you recognize potentially mispriced stocks and pursue long and short opportunities.
• The blue bars represent the high and low trading range for a stock for 1 year.
• The red dotted line represents AFG’s historical Intrinsic Value through time.
• When the red line (Intrinsic Value) is above the blue bars (trading range), the company looks to be undervalued.
• When the red line (Intrinsic Value) is below the blue bars (trading range), the company looks to be overvalued.
AFG’s Intrinsic Value Chart also contains a company’s Value Score (ranked valuation attractiveness), Economic Margin Change (expected increase/decrease in economic profitability), and Accuracy score (how well AFG’s default valuation has tracked the company).
Wealth Creation Report: displays a company’s Economic Margins (what a company earns above or below its cost of capital) through time as well as a projection of their expected future levels. The second graph shows how a company has grown their assets over time and also contains a projection of how they will grow their assets next year. AFG’s view on wealth creation starts by looking for profitable companies that are also growing their assets to make the most of that profitability.
Investment Insights from your peers, Professional Investors - The Applied Finance Group would like to invite professional investors to join AFG’s Market Forecast Project so you can better understand what your peers currently think about the market and cultivate the “wisdom of Crowds” into actionable investment ideas and themes.
Click here to learn more
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