Why Iluka Resources Limited (ASX:ILU) Could Be A Buy

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Iluka Resources Limited (ASX:ILU), a metals and mining company based in Australia, saw a double-digit share price rise of over 10% in the past couple of months on the ASX. As a mid-cap stock with high coverage by analysts, you could assume any recent changes in the company’s outlook is already priced into the stock. But what if there is still an opportunity to buy? Today I will analyse the most recent data on Iluka Resources’s outlook and valuation to see if the opportunity still exists. See our latest analysis for Iluka Resources

Is Iluka Resources still cheap?

Iluka Resources appears to be overvalued according to my relative valuation model. I’ve used the price-to-book ratio in this instance because there’s not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows, and its earnings doesn’t seem to reflect its true value. The stock’s ratio of 5.33x is currently well-above the industry average of 1.62x, meaning that it is trading at a more expensive price relative to its peers. Furthermore, Iluka Resources’s share price also seems relatively stable compared to the rest of the market, as indicated by its low beta. If you believe the share price should eventually reach its true value, a low beta could suggest it is unlikely to rapidly do so anytime soon, and once it’s there, it may be hard to fall back down into an attractive buying range.

Can we expect growth from Iluka Resources?

ASX:ILU Future Profit Apr 18th 18
ASX:ILU Future Profit Apr 18th 18

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. Iluka Resources’s 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? ILU’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading above its fair value. However, this brings up another question – is now the right time to sell? If you believe ILU should trade below its current price, selling high and buying it back up again when its price falls towards its real value can be profitable. But before you make this decision, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on ILU for a while, now may not be the best time to enter into the stock. The price has surpassed its industry peers, which means it is likely that there is no more upside from mispricing. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for ILU, which means it’s worth diving deeper into other factors in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters – the fundamentals – before you make a decision on Iluka Resources. You can find everything you need to know about Iluka Resources in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Iluka Resources, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.


To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned.

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