The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Low PE Investor model based on the published strategy of John Neff. This strategy looks for firms with persistent earnings growth that trade at a discount relative to their earnings growth and dividend yield.
SEACOAST BANKING CORPORATION OF FLORIDA (SBCF) is a small-cap growth stock in the Regional Banks industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 60% to 79% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida is a financial holding company. The Company's principal subsidiary is Seacoast National Bank, a national banking association (Seacoast Bank). The Company and its subsidiaries provide integrated financial services, including commercial and retail banking, wealth management and mortgage services, brokerage and annuity services to customers through banking solutions and approximately 52 traditional branches of Seacoast Bank. Its loans held for investment are categorized as construction and land development, commercial real estate - owner-occupied, commercial real estate - non-owner-occupied, residential real estate, commercial and financial, consumer and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Its offices stretch from the southeast, including Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and Palm Beach, north along the east coast to the Daytona area, into Orlando and Central Florida and the adjacent Tampa market, and west to Okeechobee and surrounding counties.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| P/E RATIO: | PASS |
| EPS GROWTH: | PASS |
| FUTURE EPS GROWTH: | FAIL |
| SALES GROWTH: | PASS |
| TOTAL RETURN/PE: | PASS |
| FREE CASH FLOW: | PASS |
| EPS PERSISTENCE: | FAIL |
Detailed Analysis of SEACOAST BANKING CORPORATION OF FLORIDA
BANK OF MONTREAL (USA) (BMO) is a large-cap value stock in the Regional Banks industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 62% to 81% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Bank of Montreal (the Bank) is a Canada-based financial services provider. The Bank provides a range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management, global markets and investment banking products and services. The Bank conducts its business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, BMO Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets. The Personal and Commercial Banking business includes two retail and business banking operating segments, such as Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking and the United States Personal and Commercial Banking. Its BMO Wealth Management business serves a range of client segments, from mainstream to high net worth and institutional, with an offering of wealth management products and services, including insurance. Its BMO Capital Markets business provides a range of products and services to corporate, institutional and government clients, through its investment and corporate banking and global markets lines of business.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| P/E RATIO: | PASS |
| EPS GROWTH: | PASS |
| FUTURE EPS GROWTH: | PASS |
| SALES GROWTH: | FAIL |
| TOTAL RETURN/PE: | PASS |
| FREE CASH FLOW: | PASS |
| EPS PERSISTENCE: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of BANK OF MONTREAL (USA)
FEDERAL AGRICULTURAL MORTGAGE CORP. (AGM) is a small-cap value stock in the Consumer Financial Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 62% to 81% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation is a stockholder-owned, federally chartered corporation that combines private capital and public sponsorship to serve a public purpose. The Company provides a secondary market for a range of loans made to borrowers in rural America. The Company operates through four segments: Farm & Ranch, USDA Guarantees, Rural Utilities, and Institutional Credit. The Company's secondary market activities include purchasing eligible loans directly from lenders; providing advances against eligible loans by purchasing obligations secured by those loans; securitizing assets and guaranteeing the payment of principal and interest on the resulting securities that represent interests in, or obligations secured by, pools of eligible loans; and issuing long-term standby purchase commitments (LTSPCs) for eligible loans. Under the Farm & Ranch line of business, Company provides a secondary market for mortgage loans secured by first liens on agricultural real estate.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| P/E RATIO: | PASS |
| EPS GROWTH: | PASS |
| FUTURE EPS GROWTH: | FAIL |
| SALES GROWTH: | PASS |
| TOTAL RETURN/PE: | PASS |
| FREE CASH FLOW: | PASS |
| EPS PERSISTENCE: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of FEDERAL AGRICULTURAL MORTGAGE CORP.
More details on Validea's John Neff strategy
About John Neff: While known as the manager with whom many top managers entrusted their own money, Neff was far from the smooth-talking, high-profile Wall Streeter you might expect. He was mild-mannered and low-key, and the same might be said of the Windsor Fund that he managed for more than three decades. In fact, Neff himself described the fund as "relatively prosaic, dull, [and] conservative." There was nothing dull about his results, however. From 1964 to 1995, Neff guided Windsor to a 13.7 percent average annual return, easily outpacing the S&P 500's 10.6 percent return during that time. That 3.1 percentage point difference is huge over time -- a $10,000 investment in Windsor (with dividends reinvested) at the start of Neff's tenure would have ended up as more than $564,000 by the time he retired, more than twice what the same investment in the S&P would have yielded (about $233,000). Considering the length of his tenure, that track record may be the best ever for a manager of such a large fund.
About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
