Why Fundamental Investors Might Love Semcon AB (publ) (STO:SEMC)

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I've been keeping an eye on Semcon AB (publ) (STO:SEMC) because I'm attracted to its fundamentals. Looking at the company as a whole, as a potential stock investment, I believe SEMC has a lot to offer. Basically, it is a financially-sound company with a a strong history of performance, trading at a discount. Below, I've touched on some key aspects you should know on a high level. If you're interested in understanding beyond my broad commentary, take a look at the report on Semcon here.

Very undervalued with solid track record and pays a dividend

In the previous year, SEMC has ramped up its bottom line by 32%, with its latest earnings level surpassing its average level over the last five years. In addition to beating its historical values, SEMC also outperformed its industry, which delivered a growth of 0.5%. This is an notable feat for the company. SEMC is financially robust, with ample cash on hand and short-term investments to meet upcoming liabilities. This suggests prudent control over cash and cost by management, which is a crucial insight into the health of the company. SEMC seems to have put its debt to good use, generating operating cash levels of 0.51x total debt in the most recent year. This is also a good indication as to whether debt is properly covered by the company’s cash flows.

OM:SEMC Income Statement, June 5th 2019
OM:SEMC Income Statement, June 5th 2019

SEMC's share price is trading at below its true value, meaning that the market sentiment for the stock is currently bearish. This mispricing gives investors the opportunity to buy into the stock at a cheap price compared to the value they will be receiving, should analysts' consensus forecast growth be correct. Also, relative to the rest of its peers with similar levels of earnings, SEMC's share price is trading below the group's average. This supports the theory that SEMC is potentially underpriced.

OM:SEMC Intrinsic value, June 5th 2019
OM:SEMC Intrinsic value, June 5th 2019

Next Steps:

For Semcon, there are three important aspects you should further research:

  1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for SEMC’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for SEMC’s outlook.

  2. Dividend Income vs Capital Gains: Does SEMC return gains to shareholders through reinvesting in itself and growing earnings, or redistribute a decent portion of earnings as dividends? Our historical dividend yield visualization quickly tells you what your can expect from SEMC as an investment.

  3. Other Attractive Alternatives : Are there other well-rounded stocks you could be holding instead of SEMC? Explore our interactive list of stocks with large potential to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.