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.
ARES CAPITAL CORPORATION (ARCC) is a mid-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: Ares Capital Corporation is a specialty finance company, which is a closed-end, non-diversified management investment company. Its investment objective is to generate both current income and capital appreciation through debt and equity investments. It invests primarily in United States middle-market companies. It invests primarily in first lien senior secured loans (including unitranche loans, which are loans that combine both senior and subordinated debt, generally in a first lien position), and second lien senior secured loans. In addition to senior secured loans, it also invests in subordinated debt, which in some cases includes an equity component, and preferred equity. It also may invest up to 30% of its portfolio in nonqualifying assets. Its investment activities are focused on industries such as software and services, health care services, commercial and professional services, diversified financials, and various others. Its investment adviser is Ares Capital 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: | FAIL |
Detailed Analysis of ARES CAPITAL CORPORATION
CRANE HOLDINGS CO (CR) is a mid-cap value stock in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 40% 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: Crane Holdings, Co. is a diversified manufacturer of engineered industrial products. The Company's segments include Aerospace & Electronics, Process Flow Technologies, and Payment & Merchandising Technologies. The Aerospace & Electronics segment supplies critical components and systems, including original equipment and aftermarket parts, primarily for the commercial aerospace and military aerospace and defense markets. The Process Flow Technologies segment is a provider of engineered fluid handling equipment for critical performance applications. The segment consists of process valves and related products, commercial valves, and pumps and systems. The Payment & Merchandising Technologies segment consists of Crane Payment Innovations (CPI) and Crane Currency. CPI provides high technology payment acceptance and dispensing products to original equipment manufacturers, and for certain vertical markets, it also provides currency handling and processing systems.
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: | FAIL |
| TOTAL RETURN/PE: | PASS |
| FREE CASH FLOW: | PASS |
| EPS PERSISTENCE: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of CRANE HOLDINGS CO
NORWOOD FINANCIAL CORPORATION (NWFL) 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: Norwood Financial Corp. is a bank holding company that operates through its subsidiary, Wayne Bank (the Bank). The Bank is an independent community bank with over 14 offices in Northeastern Pennsylvania and approximately 16 offices in Delaware, Sullivan, Ontario, Otsego and Yates Counties, New York. It offers a range of personal and business credit services, trust and investment products, and real estate settlement services to the consumers, businesses, non-profit organizations and municipalities in each of the communities that the Bank serves. The Bank primarily serves the northeastern Pennsylvania counties of Wayne, Pike, Monroe, Lackawanna and Luzerne, as well as the Susquehanna County. It operates approximately 31 automated teller machines. It operates a Wealth Management/Trust Department, which provides estate planning, investment management and financial planning to customers. The Bank's subsidiaries include Norwood Investment Corp., WCB Realty Corp. and WTRO Properties Inc.
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 NORWOOD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
More details on Validea's John Neff strategy
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.
