Thursday, September 13, 2018

Core Laboratories intrinsic value


This company's stock price has varied less than it's earnings.

SECTOR: [PASS]  Core Labs is a decades old oilfield services company. 


SALES: [PASS] The investor must select companies of "adequate size". This includes companies with annual sales greater than €260 million. Core Lab's sales of €700 million, based on 2017 sales, pass this test.

CURRENT RATIO:  [PASS] The current ratio must be greater than or equal to 2. Companies that meet this criterion are typically financially secure and defensive. Core Lab's current ratio €225m/€1101m of 2 is good.

LONG-TERM DEBT IN RELATION TO NET CURRENT ASSETS: [FAIL] For industrial companies, long-term debt must not exceed net current assets (current assets minus current liabilities). Companies that do not meet this criterion lack the financial stability that this methodology likes to see. The long-term debt for Core Labs is €344 million, while the net current assets are €124 million. Core Labs fails this test.

LONG-TERM EPS GROWTH:  [FAIL] Companies must increase their EPS by at least 30% over a ten-year period and EPS must not have been negative for any year within the last 5 years. Companies with this type of growth tend to be financially secure and have proven themselves over time. Core Lab's earnings have not increased much over the past ten years due to the fall in Earnings recently.

Earnings Yield: [FAIL] The Earnings/Price (inverse P/E) %, based on the lesser of the current Earnings Yield or the Yield using average earnings over the last 3 fiscal years, must be "acceptable", which this methodology states is greater than 6,5%. Stocks with higher earnings yields are more defensive by nature. Core Lab's E/P of 3% (using this year's estimated Earnings) fails this test.

Graham Number value: [FAIL]  The Price/Book ratio must also be reasonable. That is the Graham number value must be greater than the market price. Core Labs has a Graham number of (15 x €2,3 EPS x 1,5 x €3,57 Book Value) = €16 

Dividend: €2,2/€94 = 2%   

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