ASX:MTH Income Statement Oct 2nd 17
Is MTH's cost structure indicative of a high beta?
During times of economic downturn, low demand may cause companies to readjust production of their goods and services. It is more difficult for companies to lower their cost, if the majority of these costs are generated by fixed assets. Therefore, this is a type of risk which is associated with higher beta. I test MTH’s ratio of fixed assets to total assets in order to determine how high the risk is associated with this type of constraint. With a fixed-assets-to-total-assets ratio of greater than 30%, MTH appears to be a company that invests a large amount of capital in assets that are hard to scale down on short-notice. Thus, we can expect MTH to be more volatile in the face of market movements, relative to its peers of similar size but with a lower proportion of fixed assets on their books. However, this is the opposite to what MTH’s actual beta value suggests, which is lower stock volatility relative to the market.
What this means for you:
Are you a shareholder? MTH may be a worthwhile stock to hold onto in order to cushion the impact of a downturn. Depending on the composition of your portfolio, low-beta stocks such as MTH is valuable to lower your risk of market exposure, in particular, during times of economic decline.
Are you a potential investor? Depending on the composition of your portfolio, MTH may be a valuable addition to cushion the impact of a downturn. Potential investors should look into its fundamental factors such as its current valuation and financial health. Take into account your portfolio sensitivity to the market before you invest in MTH, as well as where we are in the current economic cycle.
Beta is one aspect of your portfolio construction to consider when holding or entering into a stock. But it is certainly not the only factor. Take a look at our most recent infographic report on Mithril Resources for a more in-depth analysis of the stock to help you make a well-informed investment decision. But if you are not interested in Mithril Resources anymore, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.
To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned.