Valuation Score Card in Review for Metcash Limited (ASX:MTS) as ROIC Hits 6.062862

The ROIC Quality of Metcash Limited (ASX:MTS) is 6.062862.  This is calculated by dividing the five year average ROIC by the Standard Deviation of the 5 year ROIC.  The ROIC 5 year average is calculated using the five year average EBIT, five year average (net working capital and net fixed assets). The ROIC is calculated by dividing the net operating profit (or EBIT) by the employed capital.  The employed capital is calculated by subrating current liabilities from total assets.  The Return on Invested Capital is a ratio that determines whether a company is profitable or not.  It tells investors how well a company is turning their capital into profits.  

Investing in the stock market will always come with ups and downs. There are so many different factors that can have an impact on the day to day movements of stock prices. Finding the correct investing strategy may take some time. Many investors may have the tendency to become impatient when the portfolio is not performing up to snuff. Sometimes an original plan may be solid, but it needs some time to start to work itself out. Staying on the right track can be much easier said than done. There are always forces leading the investor to question their holdings. Giving up on a strategy too early can result in a lot of second guessing. There may be a time when the plan needs to be modified to adapt with changing market environments, but pulling the cord based on some early trouble may not be the best solution.

Metcash Limited (ASX:MTS) has a Price to Book ratio of 1.943841. This ratio is calculated by dividing the current share price by the book value per share. Investors may use Price to Book to display how the market portrays the value of a stock. Checking in on some other ratios, the company has a Price to Cash Flow ratio of 9.294204, and a current Price to Earnings ratio of -17.941855. The P/E ratio is one of the most common ratios used for figuring out whether a company is overvalued or undervalued.

Checking in on some valuation rankings, Metcash Limited (ASX:MTS) has a Value Composite score of 24. Developed by James O’Shaughnessy, the VC score uses five valuation ratios. These ratios are price to earnings, price to cash flow, EBITDA to EV, price to book value, and price to sales. The VC is displayed as a number between 1 and 100. In general, a company with a score closer to 0 would be seen as undervalued, and a score closer to 100 would indicate an overvalued company. Adding a sixth ratio, shareholder yield, we can view the Value Composite 2 score which is currently sitting at 17.

Watching some historical volatility numbers on shares of Metcash Limited (ASX:MTS), we can see that the 12 month volatility is presently 36.327400. The 6 month volatility is 41.881200, and the 3 month is spotted at 33.283000. Following volatility data can help measure how much the stock price has fluctuated over the specified time period. Although past volatility action may help project future stock volatility, it may also be vastly different when taking into account other factors that may be driving price action during the measured time period. 

Price Index
We can now take a quick look at some historical stock price index data. Metcash Limited (ASX:MTS) presently has a 10 month price index of 0.97161. The price index is calculated by dividing the current share price by the share price ten months ago. A ratio over one indicates an increase in share price over the period. A ratio lower than one shows that the price has decreased over that time period. Looking at some alternate time periods, the 12 month price index is 1.24696, the 24 month is 1.48810, and the 36 month is 2.62605. Narrowing in a bit closer, the 5 month price index is 0.86782, the 3 month is 1.15267, and the 1 month is currently 1.09259.

Scores
The Gross Margin Score is calculated by looking at the Gross Margin and the overall stability of the company over the course of 8 years. The score is a number between one and one hundred (1 being best and 100 being the worst). The Gross Margin Score of Metcash Limited (ASX:MTS) is 12.00000. The more stable the company, the lower the score. If a company is less stable over the course of time, they will have a higher score.

The C-Score is a system developed by James Montier that helps determine whether a company is involved in falsifying their financial statements.  The C-Score is calculated by a variety of items, including a growing difference in net income verse cash flow, increasing days outstanding, growing days sales of inventory, increasing assets to sales, declines in depreciation, and high total asset growth.  The C-Score of Metcash Limited (ASX:MTS) is 3.00000.  The score ranges on a scale of -1 to 6.  If the score is -1, then there is not enough information to determine the C-Score.  If the number is at zero (0) then there is no evidence of fraudulent book cooking, whereas a number of 6 indicates a high likelihood of fraudulent activity. The C-Score assists investors in assessing the likelihood of a company cheating in the books.

The Piotroski F-Score is a scoring system between 1-9 that determines a firm’s financial strength.  The score helps determine if a company’s stock is valuable or not.  The Piotroski F-Score of Metcash Limited (ASX:MTS) is 5.  A score of nine indicates a high value stock, while a score of one indicates a low value stock.  The score is calculated by the return on assets (ROA), Cash flow return on assets (CFROA), change in return of assets, and quality of earnings.  It is also calculated by a change in gearing or leverage, liquidity, and change in shares in issue.  The score is also determined by change in gross margin and change in asset turnover.

When the stock portfolio is diversified, there is a good chance that some stocks will be winners and some will be losers. Regularly reviewing portfolio performance can help the investor stay the course. Keeping track of performance can help spot stocks that might no longer be beneficial to the goals of the investor. There may be times after a review where nothing needs to be adjusted, but staying ahead of the curve can put the individual in a good place when the investing waters become choppy.

The MF Rank (aka the Magic Formula) is a formula that pinpoints a valuable company trading at a good price.  The formula is calculated by looking at companies that have a high earnings yield as well as a high return on invested capital.  The MF Rank of Metcash Limited (ASX:MTS) is 920.  A company with a low rank is considered a good company to invest in.  The Magic Formula was introduced in a book written by Joel Greenblatt, entitled, “The Little Book that Beats the Market”.

The Shareholder Yield is a way that investors can see how much money shareholders are receiving from a company through a combination of dividends, share repurchases and debt reduction.  The Shareholder Yield of Metcash Limited (ASX:MTS) is 0.046509.  This percentage is calculated by adding the dividend yield plus the percentage of shares repurchased.  Dividends are a common way that companies distribute cash to their shareholders.  Similarly, cash repurchases and a reduction of debt can increase the shareholder value, too.  Another way to determine the effectiveness of a company’s distributions is by looking at the Shareholder yield (Mebane Faber).  The Shareholder Yield (Mebane Faber) of Metcash Limited ASX:MTS is 0.13733.  This number is calculated by looking at the sum of the dividend yield plus percentage of sales repurchased and net debt repaid yield.