NYSE:AU
$37.38
(3/12 6:40PM)
-0.5%
| Open | $37.75 |
Mkt Cap | $13.4 Billion |
| High | $38.15 |
52Wk High | $47.52 |
| Low | $37.08 |
52Wk Low | $29.36 |
| Volume | 1.0 Million |
Avg Vol 10D | 1.7 Million |
Ockham's Rating/Recommendation Summary
Rating specific information requires Premium Access.
Buy Now
or
Learn More about Ockham's Features and Services.
AU Revenue
For a long time, value investors have used the current share price relative to sales per share levels as an important valuation tool. We utilize a historical weighted average methodology that treats recent years more importantly in the calculation. When looking at AU through this framework, we can see that our weighted average historical high and low Price to Sales per share ratios over the last 10 years are 5.37x and 2.80x respectively.
Utilizing this range we can see that AU’s current Price to Sales per share ratio of 3.93x is below its historical average only slightly. So, while not a huge positive for our analysis, we do feel it is worth noting that AU does look a bit undervalued on a Price to Sales basis, all other factors being equal. However, if the Price to Sales ratio drops further, Ockham Research is likely to become more bullish on this stock.
AU Cash Earnings
Price to Cash Earnings analysis is inappropriate for this company due to anticipated negative cash flows for this year. A negative cash flow presents many complications when comparing the company's current value to historically normal valuations. Clearly, when a company fails to earn a profit, it should be a concern for investors. As such, we have taken a negative view on AU from a cash perspective. We should point out that this metric is a significant element in Ockham’s methodology for analyzing the outlook for any company.
Many young companies have come through difficult times like this before; these companies have an opportunity to grow revenue appropriately to bring them around to profitablity. However, for mature company's with a history of positive cash flow this can be much more distressing. Therefore, for AU, our overall valutaion is now more dependent on the Price to Sales analysis, and investors should be cautious with a company with very limited, if any, positive cash earnings.
AU Dividends
When determining a company's future prospects for success, Ockham Research sees analysis of dividend payments as a key additional factor. Even though it isn't imperative for AU to shell out a dividend in order to receive a positive rating, it can be helpful to further our analysis.
The estimated annual dividend for AU is $0.18 producing a current dividend yield of 0.48%. Much like our evaluation of Sales and Cash Earnings per share, we review dividend yields from AU against the historic high and low levels over all available dividend history. Because dividends are a decision made exclusively by management, we view a healthy and rising dividend as a sign of confidence and strength. The highest dividend yield from AU over previous years was 6.41% while the lowest dividend yield was 0.25%. While it is quite common for a growth stock to pay no dividend at all, but for a mature company such as AU that has a history of paying dividends it is disappointing to see their dividend yield drop so significantly. At this time, the current dividend yield is 85.59% below the median yield.
