Financial Ratio Tutorial

 
Components:

 
The dollar amount in the numerator is the closing stock price for Zimmer Holdings as of December 31, 2005 as reported in the financial press or over the Internet in online quotes. In the denominator, the EPS figure is calculated by dividing the company's reported net earnings (income statement) by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding (income statement) to obtain the $2.96 EPS figure. By simply dividing, the equation gives us the P/E ratio that indicates (as of Zimmer Holdings' 2005 fiscal yearend) its stock (at $67.44) was trading at 22.8-times the company's basic net earnings of $2.96 per share. This means that investors would be paying $22.80 for every dollar of Zimmer Holdings' earnings. 
 
Variations: 
The basic formula for calculating the P/E ratio is fairly standard. There is never a problem with the numerator - an investor can obtain a current closing stock price from various sources, and they'll all generate the same dollar figure, which, of course, is a per-share number. 
 
However, there are a number of variations in the numbers used for the EPS figure in the denominator. The most commonly used EPS dollar figures include the following: 

• Basic earnings per share - based on the past 12 months as of the most recent reported quarterly net income. In investment research materials, this period is often identified as trailing twelve months (TTM). As noted previously, diluted earnings per share could also be used, but this is not a common practice. The term "trailing P/E" is used to identify a P/E ratio calculated on this basis.
• Estimated basic earnings per share - based on a forward 12-month projection as of the most recent quarter. This EPS calculation is not a "hard number", but rather an estimate generated by investment research analysts. The term, estimated P/E ratio, is used to identify a P/E ratio calculated on this basis.
• The Value Line Investment Survey's combination approach - This well-known and respected independent stock research firm has popularized a P/E ratio that uses six months of actual trailing EPS and six months of forward, or estimated, EPS as its earnings per share component in this ratio.
• Cash Earnings Per Share - Some businesses will report cash earnings per share, which uses operating cash flow instead of net income to calculate EPS.
• Other Earnings Per Share - Often referred to as "headline EPS", "whisper numbers", and "pro forma", these other earnings per shares metrics are all based on assumptions due to special circumstances. While the intention here is to highlight the impact of some particular operating aspect of a company that is not part of its conventional financial reporting, investors should remember that the reliability of these forms of EPS is questionable.

Commentary: 
A stock with a high P/E ratio suggests that investors are expecting higher earnings growth in the future compared to the overall market, as investors are paying more for today's earnings in anticipation of future earnings growth. Hence, as a generalization, stocks with this characteristic are considered to be growth stocks. Conversely, a stock with a low P/E ratio suggests that investors have more modest expectations for its future growth compared to the market as a whole. 
 
The growth investor views high P/E ratio stocks as attractive buys and low P/E stocks as flawed, unattractive prospects. Value investors are not inclined to buy growth stocks at what they consider to be overpriced values, preferring instead to buy what they see as underappreciated and undervalued stocks, at a bargain price, which, over time, will hopefully perform well.  
 
Note: Though this indicator gets a lot of investor attention, there is an important problem that arises with this valuation indicator and investors should avoid basing an investment decision solely on this measure. The ratio's denominator (earnings per share) is based on accounting conventions related to a determination of earnings that is susceptible to assumptions, interpretations and management manipulation. This means that the quality of the P/E ratio is only as good as the quality of the underlying earnings number. 
 
Whatever the limitations of the P/E ratio, the investment community makes extensive use of this valuation metric. It will appear in most stock quote presentations on an updated basis, i.e., the latest 12-months earnings (based on the most recent reported quarter) divided by the current stock price. Investors considering a stock purchase should then compare this current P/E ratio against the stock's long-term (three to five years) historical record. This information is readily available in Value Line or S&P stock reports, as well as from most financial websites, such as Yahoo!Financeand MarketWatch.  
 
It's also worthwhile to look at the current P/E ratio for the overall market (S&P 500), the company's industry segment, and two or three direct competitor companies. This comparative exercise can help investors evaluate the P/E of their prospective stock purchase as being in a high, low or moderate price range.  
 
To learn more, check out Understanding The P/E Ratio,Analyze Investments Quickly With Ratios and Move Over P/E, Make Way For The PEG.  

Investment Valuation Ratios: Price/Earnings To Growth Ratio

The price/earnings to growth ratio, commonly referred to as the PEG ratio, is obviously closely related to the P/E ratio. The PEG ratio is a refinement of the P/E ratio and factors in a stock's estimated earnings growth into its current valuation. By comparing a stock's P/E ratio with its projected, or estimated, earnings per share (EPS) growth, investors are given insight into the degree of overpricing or underpricing of a stock's current valuation, as indicated by the traditional P/E ratio. 
 
The general consensus is that if the PEG ratio indicates a value of 1, this means that the market is correctly valuing (the current P/E ratio) a stock in accordance with the stock's current estimated earnings per share growth. If the PEG ratio is less than 1, this means that EPS growth is potentially able to surpass the market's current valuation. In other words, the stock's price is being undervalued. On the other hand, stocks with high PEG ratios can indicate just the opposite - that the stock is currently overvalued. 
 
Formula:

 
Components:

 
For the numerator, we are using Zimmer Holdings' P/E ratio, as calculated in the last chapter, for its fiscal yearend, December 30, 2005. The denominator, estimated earnings per share growth in 2006, is based on data found in a Value Line stock report on Zimmer Holdings.  
 
Variations: 
None 
 
Commentary: 
While the P/E ratio represents a very simple and widely used method of valuing a stock, it does lack one very important variable. The assumption with high P/E stocks (generally of the growth variety) is that investors are willing to buy at a high price because they believe that the stock has significant growth potential. The PEG ratio helps investors determine the degree of reliability of that growth assumption. 
 
Although the PEG ratio improves upon (i.e. provides additional valuation insight) the P/E ratio, it is still far from perfect. The problem lies with the numerator and the denominator in the equation. Misreading of a company's and/or analysts' predictions of future earnings are very common. Also, investor sentiment regarding a stock's pricing and earnings prospects is usually overly optimistic during bull markets and overly pessimistic in bear markets.  
 
The question of where investors can source the data necessary to calculate the PEG ratio focuses entirely on the estimated future growth of per-share earnings. A stock's P/E ratio appears in virtually all price quotes regardless of their origin. Estimated earnings growth shows up in investment research reports and financial analysts' comments in the financial press but may require some digging to find it.  
 
In this regard, the historical and estimated performance of a company's earnings per share is easily obtained from Value Line stock reports, which are available by subscription to the Value Line Investment Survey. It should also be noted that most public libraries carry a Value Line subscription, which, therefore, makes its stock reports available free of charge to the general public.  
 
Using Zimmer Holdings as an illustration, let's take a look at the data in question in a December 1, 2006 Value Line stock report on the company. At the top of the report, Value Line reports a trailing P/E ratio of 22.6. Zimmer Holdings went public in 2001, so we have five years of actual EPS, as well as Value Line's one, two, and three-to-five year EPS estimates in the per share data box.  
 
Value Line estimates a +11% EPS growth for the 2005-2006 period and +14% growth rate for 2007. So, at yearend 2006 we are looking at a PEG ratio for Zimmer of 1.61 (22.6 P/E ratio ÷ 14% EPS growth). Some peer company PEG ratio comparisons would give investors an idea of the strength or weakness of this valuation indicator at that point in time. 
 
To learn more, check out Understanding The P/E Ratio,Analyze Investments Quickly With Ratios and Move Over P/E, Make Way For The PEG.  

Investment Valuation Ratios: Price/Sales Ratio

A stock's price/sales ratio (P/S ratio) is another stock valuation indicator similar to the P/E ratio. The P/S ratio measures the price of a company's stock against its annual sales, instead of earnings.  
 
Like the P/E ratio, the P/S reflects how many times investors are paying for every dollar of a company's sales. Since earnings are subject, to one degree or another, to accounting estimates and management manipulation, many investors consider a company's sales (revenue) figure a more reliable ratio component in calculating a stock's price multiple than the earnings figure.  
 
Formula:

 
Components:

The dollar amount in the numerator is the closing stock price for Zimmer Holdings as of December 31, 2005, as reported in the financial press or over the internet in online quotes. In the denominator, the sales per share figure is calculated by dividing the reported net earnings (income statement) by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding (income statement) to obtain the $13.30 sales per share figure. By simply dividing, the equation gives us a P/S ratio indicating that, as of Zimmer Holdings 2005 fiscal yearend, its stock (at $67.44) was trading at 5.1-times the company's sales of $13.30 per share. This means that investors would be paying $5.10 for every dollar of Zimmer Holdings' sales. 
 
Variations: 
None 
 
Commentary: 
"The king of the value factors" is how James O'Shaughnessy describes the P/S ratio in his seminal book on investing strategies, What Works on Wall Street (McGraw-Hill, 1997). Using Standard & Poor's CompuStat database, his exhaustive analysis makes clear that "the stock market methodically rewards certain investment strategies while punishing others." No matter what your style of investing, O'Shaughnessy's research concludes that "low price-to-sales ratios beat the market more than any other value ratio, and do so more consistently." 
 
As powerful a valuation metric as the P/S ratio may be, it would be a mistake for investors to put all their stock price valuation eggs in one basket. However, the P/S ratio does provide another perspective that complements the other valuation indicators - particularly the P/E ratio - and is a worthwhile addition to an investor's stock analysis toolbox. 
 
 

Investment Valuation Ratios: Dividend Yield

A  stock's dividend yield is expressed as an annual percentage and is calculated as the company's annual cash dividend per share divided by the current price of the stock. The dividend yield is found in the stock quotes of dividend-paying companies. Investors should note that stock quotes record the per share dollar amount of a company's latest quarterly declared dividend. This quarterly dollar amount is annualized and compared to the current stock price to generate the per annum dividend yield, which represents an expected return.  
 
Income investors value a dividend-paying stock, while growth investors have little interest in dividends, preferring to capture large capital gains. Whatever your investing style, it is a matter of historical record that dividend-paying stocks have performed better than non-paying-dividend stocks over the long term.  
 
Formula:

 
Components:

 
 
Zimmer Holdings does not pay a dividend, so the $1.00 dividend per share amount is being used for illustration purposes. In the company's stock quote the latest quarterly dividend would be recorded as $0.25 (per share) and the share price as $67.44 as of yearend 2005. On this basis, the stock would have a dividend yield of 1.48%. 
 
Variations: 
None 
 
Commentary: 
A stock's dividend yield depends on the nature of a company's business, its posture in the marketplace (valueor growth oriented), its earnings and cash flow, and its dividend policy. For example, steady, mature businesses, such as utilities and banks, are generally good dividend payers. REIT stocks, with their relatively stable inflow of rental payments, are also recognized for their attractive dividend yields. If you're an income investor, a stock's dividend yield might well be the only valuation measurement that matters to you. On the other hand, if you're in the growth stock camp, dividend yield (or the lack of one) will be meaningless. 

Investment Valuation Ratios: Enterprise Value Multiple

This valuation metric is calculated by dividing a company's "enterprise value" by its earnings before interest expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).  
 
Overall, this measurement allows investors to assess a company on the same basis as that of an acquirer. As a rough calculation, enterprise value multiple serves as a proxy for how long it would take for an acquisition to earn enough to pay off its costs (assuming no change in EBITDA).  
 
Formula: 

 
Components:

 
Enterprise value is calculated by adding a company's debt, minority interest, and preferred stock to its market capitalization (stock price times number of shares outstanding). The data for Zimmer Holdings' enterprise value and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were obtained from its stock quote, income statement and balance sheet as of December 31, 2005. By simply dividing, the equation gives us the company's enterprise multiple of 15.7, which means that it would take roughly 16 years for earnings (assuming EBITDA doesn't change) to pay off the acquisition cost of Zimmer Holdings. 
 
Variations: 
None 
 
Commentary: 
Enterprise value, also referred to as the value of the enterprise, is basically a modification of market capitalization, which is determined by simply multiplying a company's number of shares outstanding by the current price of its stock. Obviously, a company's stock price is heavily influenced by investor sentiment and market conditions, which, in turn, will be determined by a company's market-cap value. 
 
On the other hand, a company's enterprise value, which is the metric used by the acquiring party in an acquisition, is a term used by financial analysts to arrive at a value of a company viewed as a going concern rather than market capitalization. For example, in simple terms, long-term debt and cash in a company's balance sheet are important factors in arriving at enterprise value - both effectively serve to enhance company's value for the acquiring company. 
 
As mentioned previously, enterprise value considerations seldom find their way into standard stock analysis reporting. However, it is true that by using enterprise value, instead of market capitalization, to look at the book or market-cap value of a company, investors can get a sense of whether or not a company is undervalued.