Anyone researching R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (NYSE:RRD) might want to consider the historical volatility of the share price. Modern finance theory considers volatility to be a measure of risk, and there are two main types of price volatility. The first type is company specific volatility. Investors use diversification across uncorrelated stocks to reduce this kind of price volatility across the portfolio. 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 are more sensitive to general market forces than others. 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. Any stock with a beta of greater than one is considered more volatile than the market, while those with a beta below one are either less volatile or poorly correlated with the market.
See our latest analysis for R.R. Donnelley & Sons
What does RRD's beta value mean to investors?
Zooming in on R.R. Donnelley & Sons, we see it has a five year beta of 1.81. This is above 1, so historically its share price has been influenced by the broader volatility of the stock market. If this beta value holds true in the future, R.R. Donnelley & Sons shares are likely to rise more than the market when the market is going up, but fall faster when the market is going down. 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 R.R. Donnelley & Sons's revenue and earnings in the image below.
How does RRD's size impact its beta?
With a market capitalisation of US$210m, R.R. Donnelley & Sons is a very small company by global standards. It is quite likely to be unknown to most investors. Relatively few investors can influence the price of a smaller company, compared to a large company. This could explain the high beta value, in this case.
What this means for you:
Since R.R. Donnelley & Sons has a reasonably high beta, it's worth considering why it is so heavily influenced by broader market sentiment. For example, it might be a high growth stock or have a lot of operating leverage in its business model. In order to fully understand whether RRD is a good investment for you, we also need to consider important company-specific fundamentals such as R.R. Donnelley & Sons’s financial health and performance track record. I urge you to continue your research by taking a look at the following: