The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Low PE Investor model based on the published strategy of John Neff. This strategy looks for firms with persistent earnings growth that trade at a discount relative to their earnings growth and dividend yield.
HCI GROUP INC (HCI) is a mid-cap growth stock in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 62% to 81% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: HCI Group, Inc. is a holding company engaged in property and casualty insurance, information technology services, insurance management, real estate and reinsurance. It operates through two operating units. The Company operates through five segments: insurance operations, Exzeo Group, reciprocal exchange operations, real estate operations, and corporate and other. Its insurance business includes property and casualty insurance division and reinsurance operations, excluding the insurance operations under reciprocal exchange operations. The Exzeo Group segment includes insurance solutions, information technology operations, and its management companys activities. The reciprocal exchange segment represents the insurance operations of CORE and Tailrow, consolidated VIEs. The real estate operations segment includes companies engaged in operating commercial properties the Company owns for investment purposes or for use in its own operations.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| P/E RATIO: | PASS |
| EPS GROWTH: | FAIL |
| FUTURE EPS GROWTH: | PASS |
| SALES GROWTH: | PASS |
| TOTAL RETURN/PE: | PASS |
| FREE CASH FLOW: | PASS |
| EPS PERSISTENCE: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of HCI GROUP INC
SLR INVESTMENT CORP (SLRC) is a small-cap value stock in the Misc. Financial Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 58% to 77% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: SLR Investment Corp. is a closed-end, externally managed, non-diversified management investment company. It invests primarily in privately held United States middle-market companies. Its investment objective is to generate both current income and capital appreciation through debt and equity investments. It directly and indirectly invests primarily in leveraged middle market companies in the form of senior secured loans, financing leases and unsecured loans, and equity securities. In addition, it shall invest in foreign markets, including emerging markets. Its business is focused primarily on the direct origination of investments through portfolio companies or their financial sponsors. It invests in various industries, such as financial services, multi-sector holdings, health care providers and services, health care equipment and supplies, pharmaceuticals, consumer services, capital markets, media, software, and asset management. Its investment manager is SLR Capital Partners, LLC.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| P/E RATIO: | PASS |
| EPS GROWTH: | PASS |
| FUTURE EPS GROWTH: | FAIL |
| SALES GROWTH: | PASS |
| TOTAL RETURN/PE: | PASS |
| FREE CASH FLOW: | FAIL |
| EPS PERSISTENCE: | FAIL |
Detailed Analysis of SLR INVESTMENT CORP
ELLINGTON FINANCIAL INC (EFC) is a small-cap value stock in the Consumer Financial Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 60% to 79% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Ellington Financial Inc. is a real estate investment trust. The Company acquires and manages mortgage-related, consumer-related, corporate-related, and other financial assets. The Companys segments include the Investment Portfolio Segment and the Longbridge Segment. The Investment Portfolio Segment is focused on investing in a diverse array of financial assets, including residential and commercial mortgage loans, residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), consumer loans and asset-backed securities (ABS), including ABS-backed by consumer loans, collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), non-mortgage- and mortgage-related derivatives, debt and equity investments in loan origination companies, and other strategic investments. The Longbridge Segment is focused on the origination and servicing of, and investment in, reverse mortgage loans. The Company is externally managed and advised by Ellington Financial Management LLC.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| P/E RATIO: | PASS |
| EPS GROWTH: | PASS |
| FUTURE EPS GROWTH: | FAIL |
| SALES GROWTH: | PASS |
| TOTAL RETURN/PE: | PASS |
| FREE CASH FLOW: | FAIL |
| EPS PERSISTENCE: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of ELLINGTON FINANCIAL INC
CULLEN/FROST BANKERS INC (CFR) is a mid-cap value stock in the Money Center Banks industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 62% to 81% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. is a financial holding company and a bank holding company. The Company provides an array of products and services throughout numerous Texas markets. The Company's segments include Banking and Frost Wealth Advisors. The Banking segment includes both commercial and consumer banking services and Frost Insurance Agency. Commercial banking services are provided to corporations and other business clients and include a wide array of lending and cash management products. Consumer banking services include direct lending and depository services. Frost Insurance Agency provides insurance brokerage services to individuals and businesses covering corporate and personal property and casualty products, as well as group health and life insurance products. The Frost Wealth Advisors segment includes fee-based services within private trust, retirement services, and financial management services, including personal wealth management and securities brokerage services.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| P/E RATIO: | PASS |
| EPS GROWTH: | PASS |
| FUTURE EPS GROWTH: | FAIL |
| SALES GROWTH: | PASS |
| TOTAL RETURN/PE: | PASS |
| FREE CASH FLOW: | PASS |
| EPS PERSISTENCE: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of CULLEN/FROST BANKERS INC
FIRST BUSINESS FINANCIAL SERVICES INC (FBIZ) is a small-cap value stock in the Money Center Banks industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 62% to 81% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: First Business Financial Services, Inc. is a bank holding company. It is engaged in the commercial banking business through its bank subsidiary, First Business Bank (the Bank). The Bank operates as a business bank, delivering a full line of commercial banking products and services tailored to meet the specific needs of small and medium-sized businesses, business owners, executives, professionals, and high-net-worth individuals. Its products and services are focused on business banking, private wealth, and bank consulting. Within business banking, it offers commercial real estate lending, commercial and industrial lending, asset-based lending, accounts receivable financing, equipment financing, floorplan financing, vendor financing, small business administration lending and servicing, treasury management solutions and company retirement services. Its private wealth management services include trust and estate administration, financial planning, investment management and private banking.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| P/E RATIO: | PASS |
| EPS GROWTH: | PASS |
| FUTURE EPS GROWTH: | FAIL |
| SALES GROWTH: | PASS |
| TOTAL RETURN/PE: | PASS |
| FREE CASH FLOW: | PASS |
| EPS PERSISTENCE: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of FIRST BUSINESS FINANCIAL SERVICES INC
About John Neff: While known as the manager with whom many top managers entrusted their own money, Neff was far from the smooth-talking, high-profile Wall Streeter you might expect. He was mild-mannered and low-key, and the same might be said of the Windsor Fund that he managed for more than three decades. In fact, Neff himself described the fund as "relatively prosaic, dull, [and] conservative." There was nothing dull about his results, however. From 1964 to 1995, Neff guided Windsor to a 13.7 percent average annual return, easily outpacing the S&P 500's 10.6 percent return during that time. That 3.1 percentage point difference is huge over time -- a $10,000 investment in Windsor (with dividends reinvested) at the start of Neff's tenure would have ended up as more than $564,000 by the time he retired, more than twice what the same investment in the S&P would have yielded (about $233,000). Considering the length of his tenure, that track record may be the best ever for a manager of such a large fund.
About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
