Is Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC) Potentially Undervalued?
Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC), might not be a large cap stock, but it saw a double-digit share price rise of over 10% in the past couple of months on the NYSE. The company is now trading at yearly-high levels following the recent surge in its share price. As a US$3.3b market cap stock, it seems odd Graham Holdings is not more well-covered by analysts. Although, there is more of an opportunity for mispricing in stocks with low coverage, which can be a good thing. So, could the stock still be trading at a low price relative to its actual value? Let’s take a look at Graham Holdings’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if the opportunity still exists.
View our latest analysis for Graham Holdings
What Is Graham Holdings Worth?
The share price seems sensible at the moment according to our price multiple model, where we compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. We’ve used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there’s not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock’s ratio of 16.31x is currently trading slightly below its industry peers’ ratio of 18.93x, which means if you buy Graham Holdings today, you’d be paying a reasonable price for it. And if you believe that Graham Holdings should be trading at this level in the long run, then there’s not much of an upside to gain over and above other industry peers. Is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Since Graham Holdings’s share price is quite volatile, we could potentially see it sink lower (or rise higher) in the future, giving us another chance to buy. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.
What does the future of Graham Holdings look like?
Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company's future expectations. Graham Holdings' revenue growth are expected to be in the teens in the upcoming years, indicating a solid future ahead. Unless expenses grow at the same level, or higher, this top-line growth should lead to robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.
What This Means For You
Are you a shareholder? GHC’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at GHC? Will you have enough conviction to buy should the price fluctuate below the industry PE ratio?
Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping tabs on GHC, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for GHC, which means it’s worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.
In light of this, if you'd like to do more analysis on the company, it's vital to be informed of the risks involved. When we did our research, we found 3 warning signs for Graham Holdings (1 is concerning!) that we believe deserve your full attention.
If you are no longer interested in Graham Holdings, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.
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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.
