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.
WINTRUST FINANCIAL CORP (WTFC) is a mid-cap value stock in the Regional 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: Wintrust Financial Corporation is a financial holding company. The Company conducts its businesses through three segments: community banking, specialty finance and wealth management. The Company offers community banking services to individuals, small to mid-sized businesses, local governmental units and institutional clients. Through specialty finance segment, the Company offers financing of insurance premiums for businesses and individuals; accounts receivable financing, value-added, out-sourced administrative services, and other specialty finance businesses. The Company offers a range of wealth management services through its subsidiaries, including trust and investment services, asset management and securities brokerage services. The Company offers MaxSafe deposit accounts, which provide customers with expanded Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance coverage by spreading a customer's deposit across its banks.
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 |
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
MERCANTILE BANK CORP. (MBWM) is a small-cap value stock in the Regional 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: Mercantile Bank Corporation is a bank holding company. The Company owns the Mercantile Bank of Michigan (the Bank). The Bank is a state banking company. The Bank provides commercial banking services primarily to small- to medium-sized businesses and retail banking services. The Bank makes secured and unsecured commercial, construction, mortgage and consumer loans, and accepts checking, savings and time deposits. The Bank also enables customers to conduct certain loan and deposit transactions by personal computer and through mobile applications. Courier service is provided to certain commercial customers, and safe deposit facilities are available at its office locations. The Bank's commercial lending group originates commercial loans and leases primarily in its market areas. The Bank's primary deposit products are checking, savings and term certificate accounts.
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 |
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
KEYCORP (KEY) is a large-cap value stock in the Regional 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: KeyCorp is a bank holding company. The Company is a bank-based financial services company. The Company operates through its subsidiary, KeyBank National Association (KeyBank), which is engaged in providing banking services. Through KeyBank and other subsidiaries, it provides a range of retail and commercial banking, commercial leasing, investment management, consumer finance, and investment banking products and services to individual, corporate and institutional clients. Its segments include Key Community Bank and Key Corporate Bank. Key Community Bank serves individuals and small to mid-sized businesses by offering a range of deposit, investment, lending, credit card, and personalized wealth management products and business advisory services. Key Corporate Bank is a full-service corporate and investment bank focused on serving the needs of middle market clients in industry sectors, which include consumer, energy, healthcare, industrial, public sector, real estate and technology.
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 |
For a full detailed analysis using NASDAQ's Guru Analysis tool, click here
Since its inception, Validea's strategy based on John Neff has returned 331.64% vs. 190.60% for the S&P 500. For more details on this strategy, click here
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.
