Stock investing requires careful analysis of financial data to find out the company’s true worth. This is generally done by examining the company’s profit and loss account, balance sheet and cash flow statement. This can be time-consuming and cumbersome. An easier way to find out about a company’s performance is to look at its financial ratios, most of which are freely available on the internet.
Though this is not a foolproof method, it is a good way to run a fast check on a company’s health.
“Ratio analysis is crucial for investment decisions. It not only helps in knowing how the company has been performing but also makes it easy for investors to compare companies in the same industry and zero in on the best investment option,” says DK Aggarwal, chairman and managing director, SMC Investments and Advisors.
We bring you eleven financial ratios that one should look at before investing in a stock .
“P/E ratio is usually used to value mature and stable companies that earn profits. A high PE indicates that the stock is either overvalued (with respect to history and/or peers) or the company’s earnings are expected to grow at a fast pace. But one must keep in mind that companies can boost their P/E ratio by adding debt (thereby constricting equity capital). Also, as future earnings estimates are subjective, it’s better to use past earnings for calculating P/E ratios,” says Vikas Gupta, executive vice president, Arthaveda Fund Management.
PRICE-TO-BOOK VALUE
The price-to-book value (P/BV) ratio is used to compare a company’s market price to its book value. Book value, in simple terms, is the amount that will remain if the company liquidates its assets and repays all its liabilities.
P/BV ratio values shares of companies with large tangible assets on their balance sheets. A P/BV ratio of less than one shows the stock is undervalued (value of assets on the company’s books is more than the value the market is assigning to the company). It indicates a company’s inherent value and is useful in valuing companies whose assets are mostly liquid, for instance, banks and financial institutions
