An Introduction To Small Cap Stocks

Courtesy : Investopedia

Small cap stocks have a bad reputation. The media usually focuses on the negative side of small caps, saying they are risky, frequently fraudulent and lacking in quality that investors should demand in a company. Certainly these are all valid concerns for any company, but big companies (think Enron and Worldcom) have still fallen prey to issues of internal fraud that virtually destroyed shareholder interest. Clearly, company size is by no means the only factor when it comes to investors getting scammed. In this article we'll lay out some of the most important factors comprising the good and the bad of the small-cap universe. Knowing these factors will help you decide whether investing in smaller-capitalized companies is right for you.

Background

Before we get into the pros and cons of small caps let's just recap (no pun intended) what exactly we mean by small cap. The term refers to stocks with a small market capitalization, between US$250 million and $2 billion. Stocks with a market cap below $250 million are referred to as micro caps, and those below $50 million are called nano caps. Small-cap stocks can trade on any exchange although a majority of them are found on the Nasdaq or the OTCBB because of more lenient listing requirements.

It is important to make the distinction between small caps and penny stocks, which are a whole different ball game. It is possible for a stock to be a small cap and not a penny stock. In fact, there are plenty of small caps trading at more than $1 per share, and with more liquidity than the average penny stock.

Why Invest In Small Cap Stocks?

When you are eyeing small cap stocks, a number of positive factors weigh against some of their negative attributes. Below we have outlined three of the most compelling reasons why small caps deserve representation in many investors' portfolios.

1. Huge growth potential

Most successful large cap companies started at one time as small businesses. Small caps give the individual investor a chance to get in on the ground floor. Everyone talks about finding the next Microsoft, Wal-Mart or Home Depot, because at one point these companies were small caps - diamonds in the rough if you will. Had you possessed the foresight to invest in these companies from the beginning, even a modest investment would have ballooned into an extravagant sum.

Because small caps are just companies with small total values, they have the ability to grow in ways that are simply impossible for large companies. A large company, one with a market cap in the $1 billion to $2 billion range doesn't have the same potential to double in size as a company with a $500 million market cap. At some point you just can't keep growing at such a fast rate or you'd be bigger than the entire economy! If you're seeking high-growth companies, small caps are the place to look.

2. Most mutual funds don't invest in them

It isn't uncommon for mutual funds to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in one company. Most small caps don't have the market cap to support this size of investment. In order to buy a position large enough to make a difference to their fund's performance, a fund manager would have to buy 20% or more of the company. The SEC places heavy regulations on mutual funds that make it difficult for funds to establish positions of this size. This gives an advantage to individual investors who have the ability to spot promising companies and get in before the institutional investors do. When institutions do get in, they'll do so in a big way, buying many shares and pushing up the price.

3. They are often under-recognized

This third attribute of small caps is very important. What we are saying here is that small caps often have very little analyst coverage and garner little to no attention from Wall Street. What this means to the individual investor is that, because the small cap universe is so under-reported or even undiscovered, there is a high probability that small cap stocks are improperly priced, offering an opportunity to profit from the inefficiencies caused by the lack of coverage devoted to a particular area of the market.

The Drawbacks to Small Cap Investing

As with any investment, small caps are not without inherent drawbacks. These include:

1. Risk

Despite the fact that small caps demonstrate attractive characteristics, there is a flip side. The money you invest in small caps should be money you can expose to a much higher degree of risk than that of proven cash-generating machines like large caps and blue chips.

Often much of a small cap's worth is based on its propensity to generate cash, but in order for this to happen it must be able to scale its business model. This is where much of the risk comes in. Not many companies can replicate what U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart has done, expanding from essentially a mom-and-pop store in Arkansas to a nation-wide chain with thousands of locations. Small caps are also more susceptible to volatility, simply due to their size - it takes less volume to move prices. It's common for a small cap to fluctuate 5% or more in a single trading day, something some investors simply cannot stomach.

2. Time

Finding time to uncover that small cap is hard work - investors must be prepared to do some serious research, which can be a deterrent. Financial ratios and growth rates are widely published for large companies, but not for small ones. You must do all the number crunching yourself, which can be very tedious and time consuming. This is the flip side to the lack of coverage that small caps get: there are few analyst reports on which you can start to construct a well-informed opinion of the company.

And because there is a lack of readily available information on the small-cap company, compared to large caps like GE and Microsoft which are regularly covered by the media, you won't hear any news for weeks from many smaller firms. By law these companies must release their quarterly earnings, but investors looking for more information will be hard-pressed to find anything.

The Bottom Line

There is certainly something to be said for the growth opportunities that small cap stocks can provide investors; however, along with these growth opportunities come increased risk. If you are able to take on additional levels of risk relative to large-cap companies, exploring the small cap universe is something you should look into. Alternatively, if you are extremely risk averse, the rollercoaster ride that is the stock price of a small cap company may not be appropriate for you.

DIWALI WISHES TO ALL MY DEAR FRIENDS......

WHAT IS TURNAROUND INVESTING ?

Courtesy : internationalbanker.com

Value investing is one of the most common approaches to investment, a strategy that involves picking stocks based on their intrinsic values. Should a company’s value—as measured through a range of methods—be considered worth more than the current price of the stock, the company is likely to be deemed as being undervalued and therefore ripe for a recovery. Such stocks are highly sought after by value investors, of whom some are the most respected investors in the industry, such as Warren Buffett and Seth Klarman.

One of the main facets of value investing is turnaround investing. This involves taking a position in a stock that has fallen out of favour—often due to bad news initially associated with the company—and is therefore not perceived by the majority of investors to be a worthwhile consideration. Profound financial and operational issues are likely to have severely dragged down the company’s stock price and its business model. A turnaround stock, however, will continue to have a higher intrinsic value than asserted by the majority. This means that it remains an attractive investment option as its stock price is likely to recover—or “turnaround”—in order to reflect this true value.

Companies that are in need of a turnaround have often suffered a consistent decline in their financial results, which in turn has resulted in a loss of investor confidence and ultimately a collapse in their share prices, as positions are sold en masse. This leads to companies trading at heavy discounts that eventually become ignored by the majority—but noticed by value investors. If the company announces efforts to turn the company around, it is likely that improved financial performance will follow. Such an announcement, therefore, often results in an increased stock price. However, it is also the case that management realises that positive change doesn’t transpire as quickly as intended, if at all, which is why it is worth waiting to see if such pronouncements translate into visible, sustainable improvement in the company’s underlying fundamentals. If the factors that caused the company’s initial demise appear to be duly addressed, then an investor can be more assured that a successful turnaround is imminent.

Indeed, a turnaround often involves preventing the company’s deterioration by implementing stabilisation measures, through cutting costs, selling non-vital assets, divestment or even changing the entire focus of the business or the way it markets its products. It may even involve filing for bankruptcy in order to alleviate some of its debt burden. Many US coal companies, for example, have filed for bankruptcy to eliminate much of the debt they amassed when coal prices were at all-time highs, at the beginning of the decade. Whether they are successful in posting comprehensive recoveries, however, remains to be seen.

Investing in turnaround stocks can often be a risky strategy, given that not all companies that implement recovery measures will rebound. Indeed, many will continue on an inexorable decline. Many companies have long-term management woes, issues with product marketing, are in cyclical decline, or are facing legal action. This means that repairing the company’s balance sheet is only one measure required for the stock to rebound. Management may have to be overhauled, costs may need to be reduced, new products may need to be developed, and lawsuits may require settlement. Moreover, investing in turnaround stocks invariably involves going against the grain and being a contrarian in relation to the majority of the investment crowd. Investors feel reassured that they are making the right decision when others are doing the same. With turnaround stocks, however, the majority ignore the true value and remain focused on news associated with the company’s fall from grace. Therefore, investing against the consensus view generally requires a degree of independence, as well as discipline in staying true to the company’s valuation metrics.

There are a number of ways to measure a stock’s valuation, including the price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) and the price-to-book-value ratio (P/BV), which involve examining the company’s earnings and debt levels and comparing them to its stock price. Asset-based valuation is also a popular method to determine intrinsic value, which essentially involves calculating the difference between a company’s assets and its liabilities. Different parameters provide different valuations, which makes it wise for the investor to calculate true value using a range of methods.

For those willing to perform a more detailed analysis of the company’s value, investment opportunities can arise as the true value eventually causes the stock price to rebound. This may require obtaining information on the target company that is difficult to come by. The benefit that arises from this method, however, is that because the stock price has already fallen substantially, any further “bad news” can often be deemed as having been “priced into” the stock value with the assumption that the majority of investors have effectively written it off.

An example of the emergence of turnaround stocks can be seen in the widespread collapse of global equity markets during the global financial crisis of 2007-09. As investors panicked, stocks were sold across the board. This resulted in many stocks—and indeed, entire sectors—falling out of favour with the main investment crowd. As such, several companies with strong fundamentals presented investors with attractive buying opportunities, given that their true values remained relatively strong. Given that global equities have largely been suffering from a bear market in 2016’s first quarter, understanding the turnaround concept remains just as important today for the value investor looking to unearth hidden gems. 

It is also useful to have an exit strategy with potential turnaround stocks, given the risk posed to the investor of the stock continuing to decline. This makes exiting such a position a much more subjective process as compared with other stocks. Therefore, it remains important to continue monitoring the measures taken by the company to improve its business, how upbeat and optimistic the management has remained, and the price of the stock in comparison to its industry rivals.

 Turnaround investing may lose investors a sizable amount of capital if the company cannot complete the intended turnaround. However, if it works, significant upside will emerge as the stock rebounds.

PLEASE NOTE ...

Receiving lot of queries regarding my Facebook account . Please note that, I have no active Facebook account to recommend stocks  currently and not recommending stocks through anyone's Facebook account.