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.
SEMLER SCIENTIFIC INC (SMLR) is a small-cap value stock in the Medical Equipment & Supplies 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: Semler Scientific, Inc. provides technology solutions to healthcare providers. The Company develops, manufactures, and markets products and services that assist its customers in evaluating and treating chronic diseases. Its cardiac and vascular testing product, QuantaFlo, measures arterial blood flow in the extremities to aid in the diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). QuantaFlo is a four-minute in-office blood flow test. Healthcare providers can use blood flow measurements as part of their examinations of a patient's vascular condition, including assessments of patients who have vascular disease. It has a distribution arrangement for the United States, including Puerto Rico, to distribute Insulin Insights, a software solution designed to provide insulin dosing recommendations to clinicians for the adjustment and maintenance of glucose levels in insulin-dependent patients with Type 2 diabetes. Its customers for QuantaFlo include insurance plans, physician groups, and others.
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 SEMLER SCIENTIFIC INC
NORTHRIM BANCORP INC (NRIM) is a small-cap value stock in the Money Center Banks 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: Northrim BanCorp, Inc. is a bank holding company. The Company is engaged in the business of personal banking services through its wholly owned banking subsidiary, Northrim Bank. It operates through two segments: Community Banking and Home Mortgage Lending. The Community Banking segment's principal business focuses on the offering of loan and deposit products to business and consumer customers in its primary market areas. The Home Mortgage lending segment's principal business focuses on the origination and sale of mortgage loans for one- to four-family residential properties. Its loan products include short and medium-term commercial loans, commercial credit lines, construction and real estate loans, and consumer loans. Its deposit services include business and personal noninterest-bearing checking accounts and interest-bearing time deposits, checking accounts, savings accounts, and individual retirement accounts. It also offers mobile Web and text banking, and personal finance.
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: | FAIL |
Detailed Analysis of NORTHRIM BANCORP INC
SJW GROUP (SJW) is a mid-cap growth stock in the Water Utilities 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: SJW Group is a holding company. The Company operates through four wholly owned subsidiaries, namely, San Jose Water Company (SJWC), SJWNE LLC, SJWTX, Inc. and SJW Land Company. The Company operates through two segments: Water Utility Services and Real Estate Services. The Water Utility Services segment offers water utility and utility-related services to its customers through SJW Group's subsidiaries, SJWC, Connecticut Water, CLWSC, Maine Water and New England Water Utility Services, Inc. (NEWUS). The Real Estate Services segment is engaged in property management and investment activity conducted by SJW Land Company and Chester Realty, Inc. SJWC is a utility company which is engaged in the business of providing water service in the metropolitan San Jose, California area.
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: | FAIL |
| EPS GROWTH: | PASS |
| FUTURE EPS GROWTH: | PASS |
| SALES GROWTH: | PASS |
| TOTAL RETURN/PE: | PASS |
| FREE CASH FLOW: | FAIL |
| EPS PERSISTENCE: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of SJW GROUP
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.
