Benchmark Investing Update Sep 27, 2024

This update is to Kenneth Lee’s Benchmark Investing picks based on the latest Monday’s data release. The S&P500 continues to move higher. Year-to-date it is up more than +22%. With this update there are 3 companies in the DJIA 30 that are below their downside price targets. They are WBA -71%, CRM -48%, and NKE -12%. However, none would fully qualify as a BI pick during to not being able to pass all the filters.

If you are interested in following along with this methodology against a broader range of stocks outside of the Dow30, these picks are posted in my Fool CAPS on a regular basis as trades occur, which can be found here Stock Research | Stock Picks - Motley Fool CAPS

Market Valuation (Dow 30):

The DOW30 market is still OVERpriced according to the BI method of valuation by about 23%.

Downside: -38%
Upside: -8%

Long Buy Rules:

I am using the following TTD rules for Long position considerations:

  • Year-over-Year EPS growth must > 10%, which are the next 4Q / current quarter + previous 3 quarters earnings results
  • VL 3-5 Year price appreciation > average price appreciation of the market
  • When calculating ROE and BV figures, ignore years when they are negative, but must have at least 7+ years of data to be included in final consideration
  • Avoid erratic ROE ratios, that is where they are > 2std deviations = Curr ROE > (10 Year Avg + 2 * Std Dev)
  • ROE and BV current figures must be updated by VL

Sell Rules:

I am using the following TTD rules to Sell Long positions:

Criteria (1 OR 2 OR 5, AND 3 AND 4):

  • Price Appreciation < Market Average Appreciation
  • Current Price > BI HiPrice
  • Hold time > 365 days per cycle
  • ROE & BV must be current
  • No longer listed as a market average component
    AllTooFoolish’s CAPS Portfolio:

If you are interested in seeing this method applied to a broader universe of stocks, follow my actively managed Benchmark Investing portfolio using Fool CAPS. I have been using this methodology exclusively on Fool.com for many years with great success. In the Fool CAPS you will find my current dynamic portfolio and can see my most recent activities as they occur.

Notable activity in my CAPS dynamic BI portfolio over the past three months:

  • PYPL, ADD – Aug 2 2024, downside price target -58%. Still meets all criteria.
  • AMZN, ADD – Aug 2 2024, downside price target -24%. Still meets all criteria.
  • ALGN, ADD – Aug 9 2024, downside price target -34%. Still meets all criteria.

In 2024 I will be tracking and updating every quarter two different BI Portfolios. Both these portfolios will be held for the entire 2024 year without any adjustments - we’ll see how they do.

The first portfolio (Managed) will be a continuation of the 2023 picks that have not yet hit a Sell signal plus any new picks that qualify as a Buy using the latest results.

2024 BI Managed Portfolio

XRAY, ALGN, CAH, EOG, KMI, TMUS, LKQ, BALL, CRM, TAP, IVZ, NFLX, WBD, BK, PYPL, PTC, AMZN, META, VFC, PXD.

BI Managed Portfolio Total Return Year-to-Date +13.0%

S&P 500 Total Return Year-to-Date +22.3%

The largest winner to date is META +65%

The biggest loser this year is WBD -29%

The second portfolio (Current) will only include picks that currently qualify based on the Buy rules using the latest results.

2024 BI Current Portfolio

XRAY, EOG, TAP, NFLX, PYPL, VFC, PXD

BI Current Portfolio Total Return Year-to-Date +15.9%

S&P 500 Total Return Year-to-Date +22.3%

The largest winner to date is NFLX +51%

The biggest loser this year is TAP -5%

My overall Fool CAPS Rating at the time of this post was 75.6 (+6.9 point since the previous update)

Score: 541
Accuracy: 40%

Disclosures and Useful Terms

VL Date is the date of the last summary report update from Valueline as indicated in the post’s subject line. All data sources from the Valueline Dow30 reports are made publicly available on their website. https://research.valueline.com/research#list=dow30&sec=list

Current Price is the closing price of the stock as reported by VL, which is usually a few days behind the date
of the time period mentioned in this posting’s subject line.

  • ROE/BV Updated is an indication if the stock’s BV and ROE have been updated through the end of the Benchmark evaluation time frame.
  • 10Yr Down is the 10 year downside price. The company must have at least 7 years of non-negative ROE data to qualify.
  • 10Yr Down4Qs is the 10 year downside price averaged over the previous 4 quarter’s valuation price.
  • 10Yr Up is the 10 year upside price. The company must have at least 7 years of non-negative ROE data to qualify.

Both upside and downside are calculated using the method outlined in TTD book. Also, a discussion of calculating the upside and downside can be found here:

http://boards.fool.com/Message.asp?mid=20916205&sort=who

  • %<10Y Downside is the current price divided by the 10 Yr downside expressed as a percentage.
  • EPS Future Delta is the projected growth in EPS for the next 4 quarters versus the last four reported quarters.
  • I use the latest EPS data from the VL spreadsheet which are updated as soon as new earnings are reported.
  • Div Yield is the current % dividend payout ratio per share.
  • 3-5 Y Low/Hi Price Est. is the downside/upside price estimate which is calculated using the projections of Book Value and ROE as discussed in TTD.
  • Min VL Price Appreciation is the expected change in price from current price to low end VL projected 3-5 year appreciation price.
  • VL Price 18 Price Appreciate is the VL projected % change in price from the current price within the next 18 months.
  • ROE >2STD is part of a margin of safety consideration, which is briefly discussed in TTD on pg 70-71.

I compare the current year’s ROE versus the last 10 years of ROE data. If the current ROE is greater than average (10 Yr ROE) + (2 * stdev(10 Yr ROE)), then this column is TRUE, else it is FALSE. This tells me that the stock’s ROE is much higher than its historic average and should therefore be avoided.

-AllTooFoolish

8 Likes

Is there a way to run screens & make picks that DON’T rely on ValueLine data (subscription only)? Have there been any backtests?

1 Like

I am not aware of any way to run screens. It is a methodology that is not easy to screen on because of the parameters. The backtesting that has been done is in the book Trouncing the Dow and the tracking that I have done here. Beyond that i am not aware of any other backtesting.

I have explored different data sources for the picks, but none have all the data points needed for the process. A major stumbling block is the need for projected 1-2 year’s out and 3-year future price figures. If you have any sources for this information, I would be happy to explore alternative data sources.

Fidelity has forward EPS growth 3-5 year projections, but nothing on price itself.

From memory, VL uses some combined ratio of EPS growth projections * P/E relative to history to estimate appreciation potential. If they weren’t around, I’d think an estimate calculated like that would be reasonably close.

3 Likes

Update:
SLB : Buy : downside price -41%

3 Likes

PYPL, BUY/ADD – Oct 28 2024, downside price target -45%. Add to existing position. Meets all criteria.

EPAM, BUY – Oct 28 2024, downside price target -32%. New position.

AMAZ, BUY/ADD – Oct 28 2024, downside price target -33%. Add to existing position. Meets all criteria.

2 Likes

ALGN, BUY/ADD – Nov 8 2024, downside price target -24%. Add to an existing position. Meets all BI criteria.

3 Likes