Investing requires a lot of discipline and meticulous research work before committing capital to a specific project as returns are never guaranteed. Selection of stocks by individual investors can be a daunting task whereby evaluating securities could be the tricky part. Often investors are caught in a web of information whereby sieving the relevant information and interpreting them is a tedious task. Hence, investors need to look at various parameters to assess a securities worth whereby evaluation of financial parameters holds a critical place.
One of the popular financial ratios utilized for stock evaluation is the P/E ratio which gives investors an idea about the growth potential of the stock as this takes into account the market’s expectation of the firms earning power. However, the significance of the Price to Book Value ratio as an assessment tool is highly underestimated as this ratio is considered to be backward-looking in its approach although the relationship between price and book value is very intriguing. Considering this, a need arises to understand the components of this ratio together with its application for investment analysis.
Price to Book Value = Price per share / Book Value of Equity per share
Book Value of Equity is the theoretical value of what a company’s net assets are worth. It is mainly the difference between the book value of assets and the book value of liabilities, which is largely determined by accounting conventions. Book value of assets is the original price paid for the assets deducting any allowable depreciation on the assets. Similarly, the book value of liabilities reflects the “at-issue” values of the liabilities. Since the book value is recorded at original cost, it differs from market value as the earning power of the asset is not taken into account.
Despite this fact, the P/B ratio is very useful in investment analysis as it provides a much simpler benchmark for comparison because companies in similar industries follow consistent accounting standards across firms which makes the P/B ratio quite a useful tool for comparison as it provides a sign for overvaluation or undervaluation. Generally, stocks selling below the book value of equity are considered to be undervalued while those selling above the book price are considered to be overvalued. Therefore, this ratio is widely used by
Value Investors” for stocks assessment as they constantly hunt for undervalued securities for their portfolio addition. Sometimes this ratio is also utilized by companies to increase their intrinsic value per share in the market. This can be seen in the share repurchase program announced by American Capital Ltd. in 2011 where they bought millions of shares of their own stock at price reported to be below their book value per share, thereby, in turn, elevating the per-share book value of the remaining shares. It is also useful for evaluating firms with negative earnings as those companies cannot be valued using the P/E ratio.
However, caution needs to be applied while utilizing this ratio as it can often mislead investors. As book values are affected by accounting decisions on depreciation etc. and when accounting standards vary widely across firms, the P/B ratios may not be comparable. This also holds true while comparing P/B ratios across countries with different accounting standards. Also, book value is not of much use for companies holding significant intangible assets on their Balance Sheet such as technology and services-oriented firms. Hence the ratio becomes more useful while valuing asset-driven companies such as financial institutions or real estate developers. Also, one needs to be cautious enough to look through as accounts can be fudged to inflate book value, therefore conducting financial due diligence on the part of investors should also be mandatorily followed. Another important thing to look for is contingent liabilities, which are generally represented as footnotes to the Balance Sheet. There might be a case where the company would be facing some litigation issues hence a one-off payment might arise in the future eroding the value of the assets.
Hence, as the past is always not an accurate indication of the future, therefore investors need to consider things such as the nature of assets and liabilities, whether the company is currently making profits or losses, the ratio of liabilities to equity, etc. coupled with the economic indicators for the particular sector. However, if an investor utilizes both i.e. takes a glance at the past coupled with an eye on the future, he should be able to identify profitable investment opportunities as buying companies below tangible book value limits downside risks and provides a safety margin.
Also Read: MARKET VALUE VS BOOK VALUE
Book Value of Equity is the theoretical value of what a company’s net assets are worth. It is mainly the difference between the book value of assets and the book value of liabilities, which is largely determined by accounting conventions. Book value of assets is the original price paid for the assets deducting any allowable depreciation on the assets. Similarly, the book value of liabilities reflects the “at-issue” values of the liabilities. Since the book value is recorded at original cost, it differs from market value as the earning power of the asset is not taken into account.
Despite this fact, the P/B ratio is very useful in investment analysis as it provides a much simpler benchmark for comparison because companies in similar industries follow consistent accounting standards across firms which makes the P/B ratio quite a useful tool for comparison as it provides a sign for overvaluation or undervaluation. Generally, stocks selling below the book value of equity are considered to be undervalued while those selling above the book price are considered to be overvalued. Therefore, this ratio is widely used by
Value Investors” for stocks assessment as they constantly hunt for undervalued securities for their portfolio addition. Sometimes this ratio is also utilized by companies to increase their intrinsic value per share in the market. This can be seen in the share repurchase program announced by American Capital Ltd. in 2011 where they bought millions of shares of their own stock at price reported to be below their book value per share, thereby, in turn, elevating the per-share book value of the remaining shares. It is also useful for evaluating firms with negative earnings as those companies cannot be valued using the P/E ratio.
However, caution needs to be applied while utilizing this ratio as it can often mislead investors. As book values are affected by accounting decisions on depreciation etc. and when accounting standards vary widely across firms, the P/B ratios may not be comparable. This also holds true while comparing P/B ratios across countries with different accounting standards. Also, book value is not of much use for companies holding significant intangible assets on their Balance Sheet such as technology and services-oriented firms. Hence the ratio becomes more useful while valuing asset-driven companies such as financial institutions or real estate developers. Also, one needs to be cautious enough to look through as accounts can be fudged to inflate book value, therefore conducting financial due diligence on the part of investors should also be mandatorily followed. Another important thing to look for is contingent liabilities, which are generally represented as footnotes to the Balance Sheet. There might be a case where the company would be facing some litigation issues hence a one-off payment might arise in the future eroding the value of the assets.
Hence, as the past is always not an accurate indication of the future, therefore investors need to consider things such as the nature of assets and liabilities, whether the company is currently making profits or losses, the ratio of liabilities to equity, etc. coupled with the economic indicators for the particular sector. However, if an investor utilizes both i.e. takes a glance at the past coupled with an eye on the future, he should be able to identify profitable investment opportunities as buying companies below tangible book value limits downside risks and provides a safety margin.
Also Read: MARKET VALUE VS BOOK VALUE 