It’s a common question. You wake up one morning and decide it’s a good idea to invest in a company. So you Google their stock price and discover it’s at an all-time high. You rush to open a short position, planning to close it after the price drops.
Bad move.
You don’t know much about investing, but have a good feeling about this particular company. So you purchase 100 shares at $20 a piece. A few days later, the price drops to $18 a share – a 14% decline.
You’re crushed. You’ve lost $28,000 on a $20,000 investment. That’s a lot of money to let go of so easily.
The lesson: Don’t just rush into buying a stock without researching its value. Otherwise, you might end up in a bad place. Let’s find out how much ISC stock is worth.
The Ins And Outs Of Researching A Stock’s Value
You’ve decided to invest in a company, which is great – except for the fact that you don’t know much about investing. That’s why it’s important to do some research before purchasing a stock. Otherwise, you might make some ill-advised financial decisions. Let’s take a look at how you can properly value ISC stock.
The Price
When you’re researching a company, you’ll discover a wide range of prices for its stock. Some shares are more expensive than others. A lot depends on how much demand there is for the stock and how well the company is performing.
You’d typically pay a higher price for well-known, successful companies. These are the types of stocks that appear on famous stock marketplaces like the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the NASDAQ. You might see the share price for these stocks range from several dollars to a few dozen or a couple hundred dollars. For example, General Electric (NYSE:GE), a company valued at about $180 billion, has a stock price of $125.83.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have smaller companies whose shares are usually sold for a lower price. They aren’t as famous as bigger, more established companies, so there’s less demand for their shares. In fact, some of these smaller companies don’t even appear on major stock marketplaces.
The Study
No matter what, you’ll need to do some sort of study to determine how much ISC stock is worth. You can’t simply look at the stock price and think that’s how much it’s worth. Instead, you need to consider all the relevant factors. These include, but are not limited to, the company’s income statement (which we’ll cover in a bit), its balance sheet, and its corporate governance. With all these components working together, you can have a good idea of how much value this particular share of stock in a company is really worth.
The Income Statement
This is the statement that documents a company’s operations for a specified period of time. It includes items such as revenues, expenses, and the income (or loss) from operations. The income statement gives you some indication of how profitable (or unprofitable) the company is.
For example, if you buy a share of Pure Country Farms, Ltd. (OTCBB:PCFF) – a company that grows, processes, and distributes organic fruits and vegetables – you’ll see an income statement that looks like this:
- Operating revenue: This is the money the company receives from sales of its products.
- Cost of goods sold: This is the money the company spent to grow, harvest, and process the products. It includes labor costs, raw materials, and other expenses related to producing the goods.
- Operating profit: This is the amount of money the company made from sales of its products less the costs associated with producing those products.
- Net profit: This is what’s left over after you subtract all the operating expenses from the operating revenue.
- Earnings per share (EPS): This is how much the company actually made (earned) per share after you divide the net profit by the total number of shares outstanding. (EPS is sometimes called “Earnings per Share” or “Non-GAAP EPS”).
In this example, PCFF is a fairly profitable company. Based on its income statement, it earned $2.30 per share in the most recent quarter.
The important point to note here is that PCFF’s profitability (or lack thereof) is based on the performance of the organic foods market in general, not necessarily on the performance of just this one company. (Remember: It’s never one particular stock that makes up the whole market. It’s always the economy, the market, or the industry as a whole).
The Balance Sheet
This is the statement that documents the assets (things like machinery and equipment) and liabilities (things like accounts payable and accrued expenses) of a company at a given point in time. When you look at a company’s balance sheet, you’ll usually see a large sum of money in the form of shareholders’ equity. This is essentially the company’s “kitchen sink” – the money it has left over after paying off all of its debts and obligations. (The “equity” in the company’s name is simply the money that’s left over after the debts are paid off).
For example, suppose Company A has $100 million in total assets and $50 million in total liabilities. The total shareholders’ equity would be $50 million (50% equity). If you divide the $100 million in total assets by the $50 million in total shares, you get 10,000 shares per asset. Therefore, this company is actually valued at $50,000,000 / $10,000,000 = $5,000 per share.
In the above example, Company A is a very profitable company. Based on its balance sheet, it has nearly $6 of equity for every $1 of debt. This means it can easily pay back every investor and still have some money left over. As a result, this company is perceived to be quite valuable and is usually listed on major stock markets at a higher price than its peers.
The Corporate Governance
This is a set of policies and procedures established by a company to regulate how the company is run. It includes things like the board of directors, stockholders, and the way the company reports its finances to the public. (Sometimes the corporate governance is separated into three separate categories – corporate structure, board of directors, and stockholders.)
For example, the board of directors might decide that new investors should not have more than 25% of the total voting power. This is called a “Quiet Period” for existing shareholders. (Quiet periods are times when shareholders of a company refrain from proposing new ideas to the board of directors or making significant changes to the company’s operations).
The corporate governance section of an investment report will typically include all the relevant information about the company’s operations, its shareholders, and its financial statements. It’s a good idea to read the report from the investor’s standpoint. This will help you get a better understanding of what the report is trying to tell you. As a result, you’ll be better positioned to make a fully informed decision about whether or not to buy the stock.
What About Dividends?
A company’s dividend is an extra payment made by the company to its shareholders. When a company pays a dividend, shareholders receive a cash payment in the mail or by electronic bank transfer. (The amount of the dividend is specified in the company’s articles of incorporation).
Dividends are usually a good thing. They provide regular cash flow to shareholders and can be a source of passive income. However, dividends alone cannot constitute a complete analysis of a company’s value. Just because a company pays its shareholders doesn’t mean it’s worth $5,000 per share or $50,000,000, for that matter.
To determine the true worth of a company, you’ll need to look at all the relevant information. This includes looking at the company’s financial statements, analyzing its income statement, and reviewing its balance sheet. In some instances, we wish dividends were all we needed. Sadly, they are not – at least not yet.