Does Century Plyboards (India) Limited (NSE:CENTURYPLY) Have A Particularly Volatile Share Price?

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If you own shares in Century Plyboards (India) Limited (NSE:CENTURYPLY) then it's worth thinking about how it contributes to the volatility of your portfolio, overall. In finance, Beta is a measure of volatility. Modern finance theory considers volatility to be a measure of risk, and there are two main types of price volatility. The first category is company specific volatility. This can be dealt with by limiting your exposure to any particular stock. The second type is the broader market volatility, which you cannot diversify away, since it arises from macroeconomic factors which directly affects all the stocks on the market.

Some stocks mimic the volatility of the market quite closely, while others demonstrate muted, exagerrated or uncorrelated price movements. Some investors use beta as a measure of how much a certain stock is impacted by market risk (volatility). While we should keep in mind that Warren Buffett has cautioned that 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk', beta is still a useful factor to consider. To make good use of it you must first know that the beta of the overall market is one. A stock with a beta greater than one is more sensitive to broader market movements than a stock with a beta of less than one.

Check out our latest analysis for Century Plyboards (India)

What does CENTURYPLY's beta value mean to investors?

With a beta of 1.05, (which is quite close to 1) the share price of Century Plyboards (India) has historically been about as voltile as the broader market. Using history as a guide, we might surmise that the share price is likely to be influenced by market voltility going forward but it probably won't be particularly sensitive to it. Many would argue that beta is useful in position sizing, but fundamental metrics such as revenue and earnings are more important overall. You can see Century Plyboards (India)'s revenue and earnings in the image below.

NSEI:CENTURYPLY Income Statement, April 29th 2019
NSEI:CENTURYPLY Income Statement, April 29th 2019

Does CENTURYPLY's size influence the expected beta?

Century Plyboards (India) is a small company, but not tiny and little known. It has a market capitalisation of ₹40b, which means it would be on the radar of intstitutional investors. It takes less capital to move the share price of small companies, and they are also more impacted by company specific events, so it's a bit of a surprise that the beta is so close to the overall market.

What this means for you:

Century Plyboards (India) has a beta value quite close to that of the overall market. That doesn't tell us much on its own, so it is probably worth considering whether the company is growing, if you're looking for stocks that will go up more than the overall market. This article aims to educate investors about beta values, but it's well worth looking at important company-specific fundamentals such as Century Plyboards (India)’s financial health and performance track record. I urge you to continue your research by taking a look at the following: