With EPS Growth And More, C&F Financial (NASDAQ:CFFI) Makes An Interesting Case
The excitement of investing in a company that can reverse its fortunes is a big draw for some speculators, so even companies that have no revenue, no profit, and a record of falling short, can manage to find investors. But the reality is that when a company loses money each year, for long enough, its investors will usually take their share of those losses. While a well funded company may sustain losses for years, it will need to generate a profit eventually, or else investors will move on and the company will wither away.
In contrast to all that, many investors prefer to focus on companies like C&F Financial (NASDAQ:CFFI), which has not only revenues, but also profits. Now this is not to say that the company presents the best investment opportunity around, but profitability is a key component to success in business.
See our latest analysis for C&F Financial
C&F Financial's Earnings Per Share Are Growing
If a company can keep growing earnings per share (EPS) long enough, its share price should eventually follow. That makes EPS growth an attractive quality for any company. It certainly is nice to see that C&F Financial has managed to grow EPS by 23% per year over three years. If the company can sustain that sort of growth, we'd expect shareholders to come away satisfied.
It's often helpful to take a look at earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins, as well as revenue growth, to get another take on the quality of the company's growth. Not all of C&F Financial's revenue this year is revenue from operations, so keep in mind the revenue and margin numbers used in this article might not be the best representation of the underlying business. While we note C&F Financial achieved similar EBIT margins to last year, revenue grew by a solid 4.0% to US$124m. That's progress.
In the chart below, you can see how the company has grown earnings and revenue, over time. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.
C&F Financial isn't a huge company, given its market capitalisation of US$180m. That makes it extra important to check on its balance sheet strength.
Are C&F Financial Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?
It's a good habit to check into a company's remuneration policies to ensure that the CEO and management team aren't putting their own interests before that of the shareholder with excessive salary packages. For companies with market capitalisations between US$100m and US$400m, like C&F Financial, the median CEO pay is around US$1.7m.
C&F Financial's CEO took home a total compensation package worth US$1.2m in the year leading up to December 2022. That comes in below the average for similar sized companies and seems pretty reasonable. While the level of CEO compensation shouldn't be the biggest factor in how the company is viewed, modest remuneration is a positive, because it suggests that the board keeps shareholder interests in mind. It can also be a sign of a culture of integrity, in a broader sense.
Is C&F Financial Worth Keeping An Eye On?
If you believe that share price follows earnings per share you should definitely be delving further into C&F Financial's strong EPS growth. Strong EPS growth is a great look for the company and reasonable CEO compensation sweetens the deal for investors ass it alludes to management being conscious of frivolous spending. So this stock is well worth an addition to your watchlist as it has the potential to provide great value to shareholders. While we've looked at the quality of the earnings, we haven't yet done any work to value the stock. So if you like to buy cheap, you may want to check if C&F Financial is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.
There's always the possibility of doing well buying stocks that are not growing earnings and do not have insiders buying shares. But for those who consider these important metrics, we encourage you to check out companies that do have those features. You can access a free list of them here.
Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
