WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) Yield & Returns in Review

After a recent scan, we can see that WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) has a Shareholder Yield of 0.036605 and a Shareholder Yield (Mebane Faber) of 0.03743. Companies may issue new shares and buy back their own shares. This may occur at the same time. Investors may also use shareholder yield to gauge a baseline rate of return. The first value is calculated by adding the dividend yield to the percentage of repurchased shares. The second value adds in the net debt repaid yield to the calculation. Shareholder yield has the ability to show how much money the firm is giving back to shareholders via a few different avenues. Investors may be searching high and low for the next breakout winner in the stock market. As companies continue to release quarterly earnings reports, investors will be looking for stocks that have the potential to move to the upside in the coming months. Tracking earnings can be a good way for investors to see how the company is stacking up to analyst estimates. Some investors prefer to track sell-side estimates very closely. Others prefer to do their own research and make their own best guesses on what the actual numbers will be. A solid earnings beat may help ease investor worries if the stock has been underperforming recently. On the flip side, a bad earnings miss may cause investors to take a much closer look at what the future prospects look like for the company.

Valuation Scores
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 WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) is 6.  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.

The ERP5 Rank is an investment tool that analysts use to discover undervalued companies.  The ERP5 looks at the Price to Book ratio, Earnings Yield, ROIC and 5 year average ROIC.  The ERP5 of WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) is 4672.  The lower the ERP5 rank, the more undervalued a company is thought to be. 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 WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) is 2633.  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 Q.i. Value of WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) is 28.00000.  The Q.i. Value is a helpful tool in determining if a company is undervalued or not.  The Q.i. Value is calculated using the following ratios: EBITDA Yield, Earnings Yield, FCF Yield, and Liquidity.  The lower the Q.i. value, the more undervalued the company is thought to be.

The Value Composite One (VC1) is a method that investors use to determine a company’s value.  The VC1 of WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) is 49.  A company with a value of 0 is thought to be an undervalued company, while a company with a value of 100 is considered an overvalued company.  The VC1 is calculated using the price to book value, price to sales, EBITDA to EV, price to cash flow, and price to earnings.  Similarly, the Value Composite Two (VC2) is calculated with the same ratios, but adds the Shareholder Yield.  The Value Composite Two of WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) is 41.

WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) has a Price to Book ratio of 9.890551. 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 14.662915, and a current Price to Earnings ratio of 19.414786. The P/E ratio is one of the most common ratios used for figuring out whether a company is overvalued or undervalued.

Free Cash Flow Growth (FCF Growth) is the free cash flow of the current year minus the free cash flow from the previous year, divided by last year’s free cash flow.  The FCF Growth of WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) is 0.026096.  Free cash flow (FCF) is the cash produced by the company minus capital expenditure.  This cash is what a company uses to meet its financial obligations, such as making payments on debt or to pay out dividends.  The Free Cash Flow Score (FCF Score) is a helpful tool in calculating the free cash flow growth with free cash flow stability – this gives investors the overall quality of the free cash flow.  The FCF Score of WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) is 0.705139.  Experts say the higher the value, the better, as it means that the free cash flow is high, or the variability of free cash flow is low or both.

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 WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) is 7.00000.  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.

Price Index
The Price Index is a ratio that indicates the return of a share price over a past period. The price index of WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) for last month was 1.06927. This is calculated by taking the current share price and dividing by the share price one month ago. If the ratio is greater than 1, then that means there has been an increase in price over the month. If the ratio is less than 1, then we can determine that there has been a decrease in price. Similarly, investors look up the share price over 12 month periods. The Price Index 12m for WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) is 0.95344. Some of the best financial predictions are formed by using a variety of financial tools. The Price Range 52 Weeks is one of the tools that investors use to determine the lowest and highest price at which a stock has traded in the previous 52 weeks.  The Price Range of WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) over the past 52 weeks is 0.829000.  The 52-week range can be found in the stock’s quote summary.

Ever wonder how investors predict positive share price momentum?  The Cross SMA 50/200, also known as the “Golden Cross” is the fifty day moving average divided by the two hundred day moving average.  The SMA 50/200 for WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) is currently 0.96956.  If the Golden Cross is greater than 1, then the 50 day moving average is above the 200 day moving average – indicating a positive share price momentum.  If the Golden Cross is less than 1, then the 50 day moving average is below the 200 day moving average, indicating that the price might drop.

Investors have various approaches they can take when deciding what stocks to stuff the portfolio with. Some investors may choose to use fundamental analysis, and some may choose to use technical analysis. Others may employ a combination of the two approaches to make sure no stone is left unturned. Investors looking for bargains in the market may be on the lookout for the stock that offers the best value. This may involve finding stocks that have fallen out of favor with the overall investing community but still have low PE ratios and higher dividend yields. Whatever approach is used, investors may benefit greatly from making sure that all the homework is done, and all of the angles have been examined properly.