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.
TIMKEN CO (TKR) is a mid-cap growth stock in the Misc. Capital Goods 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: The Timken Company designs and manages a portfolio of engineered bearings and industrial motion products and provides related services. Its Engineered Bearings segment features a range of product designs serving original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and end-users. Its portfolio features Timken, GGB, and Fafnir brands and serves customers across industries, including wind energy, agriculture, construction, food and beverage, metals and mining, automotive and truck, aerospace, rail and more. The Industrial Motion segment includes a portfolio of engineered products, including industrial drives, automatic lubrication systems, linear motion products and systems, chains, belts, couplings, filtration systems and industrial clutches and brakes. Its portfolio features brands, such as Philadelphia Gear, Cone Drive, Spinea, Rollon, Nadella, Groeneveld, BEKA, Des-Case, Diamond, Drives, Timken Belts, Lovejoy, PT Tech, and Lagersmit. It also offers specialty filtration products, augers 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: | PASS |
| SALES GROWTH: | PASS |
| TOTAL RETURN/PE: | FAIL |
| FREE CASH FLOW: | PASS |
| EPS PERSISTENCE: | FAIL |
Detailed Analysis of TIMKEN CO
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. develops, manufactures, and markets products and services that assist in evaluating and treating chronic diseases. The Company provides technology solutions to healthcare providers. The Company's flagship product, 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. QuantaFlo features a sensor clamp that is placed on the toe or finger. Infrared light emitted from the clamp on the dorsal surface of the digit is scattered and reflected by the red blood cells coursing through the area of illumination. Returning light is sensed by the sensor. A blood flow waveform is instantaneously constructed by its proprietary software algorithm. Its customers for QuantaFlo include insurance plans, physician groups, risk assessment groups, hospitals and retailers.
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
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.
