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Monster and Other Big Movers In Consumer/Non-Cyclical on August 23, 2012
The Nasdaq is trading down 0.2%, the S&P 500 has slipped 0.4% and the Dow has decreased 0.6% on a bad morning for the market.
The Consumer/Non-Cyclical sector (XLP) is down 0.5%, underperforming the market overall. The current biggest movers in the sector are:
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Hain Celestial Group (Nasdaq:HAIN) is trading at $67.33 per share, a significant rise of 18.3%. So far today, 2.9 million shares have changed hands. This is 5.2 times its current three-month average. Volume is also used as a secondary indicator to help confirm what the price movement is suggesting. It is important for an investor to estimate the value of any potential or existing investment; valuation ratios make this easier. The price/earnings to growth (PEG) ratio compares a company's P/E ratio to its earnings-per-share growth rate, which tells you whether or not you are getting a good value when purchasing a stock with a high price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio). PEG ratio for HAIN is consistent with the industry average at 2.54. Because of the adjustment for earnings growth rate, the PEG ratio is somewhat more useful than many formulas for comparing companies in different industries.
Increasing 3.4%, Lancaster (Nasdaq:LANC) is trading at $71.69 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 43,373 shares, 0.9 times the current daily average. Price change alone is not enough to know how a stock is doing. Volume is an important secondary indicator used to confirm trends suggested by price movement. Looking at a company's valuation ratios is a good way of getting a basic idea as to its value as an investment. The price/book value ratio provides a way of evaluating whether a stock is relatively cheap or expensive. LANC's stock is trading for more than its book value with a P/B ratio of 3.54. It is important to take the company's debt into account when using the P/B ratio as debt can boost a company's liabilities to the point where they wipe out much of the book value of its hard assets, creating artificially high P/B values. P/B has its shortcomings but is still widely used as a valuation metric, more relevant for use by investors looking at capital-intensive or finance-related businesses, such as banks; book value does not carry much meaning for service-based firms with few tangible assets. SEE: How Buybacks Warps The Price-To-Book Ratio
After rising 3%, United Natural Foods (Nasdaq:UNFI) is currently trading at a share price of $56.33. So far today, the company's volume is 145,356 shares. High volume indicates a lot of investor interest while low volume indicates the opposite. Investment valuation ratios provide investors with an estimation, albeit a simplistic one, of the value of a stock. To a large degree, the debt-equity (D/E) ratio provides another vantage point on a company's leverage position, in this case, comparing total liabilities to shareholders' equity, as opposed to total assets in the debt ratio. UNFI has a low debt-equity ratio of 22%. This shows that the company's assets are financed primarily through equity. This easy-to-calculate ratio provides a general indication of a company's equity-liability relationship and is helpful to investors looking for a quick take on a company's leverage.
Blyth (NYSE:BTH) is up 2.6% to reach a current price of $41.36 per share. So far today, 109,088 shares have changed hands, lighter than yesterday's volume of 542,636 shares. A stock's volume conveys how excited investors are about it. Valuation ratios like the price to earnings (P/E) ratio, the price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio, the price to sales (P/S) ratio, the price to book (P/B) ratio, and the dividend yield are useful in determining how attractive a potential or existing investment is. The debt ratio measures the leverage of a company, and a company's leverage is a good way to assess risk. BTH's debt ratio of 77.7% is fairly high. This means that most of the company's assets are financed through debt. However, one thing to note with this ratio: it isn't a pure measure of a company's debt (or indebtedness), as it also includes operational liabilities, such as accounts payable and taxes payable.
Annies (NYSE:BNNY) is currently trading at $38.00 per share, a 2.5% increase. The company is currently trading a volume of 131,079 shares. This is 0.6 times its average volume over the past three months. Volume indicates the level of interest that investors have in a company at its current price. A company's value as an investment is more easily estimated using valuation ratios such as the price to earnings (P/E) ratio, the price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio, the price to sales (P/S) ratio, the price to book (P/B) ratio, and the dividend yield. One of the most important estimates of stock market valuation is the price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio). BNNY's P/E ratio of 162.2 is above the industry average of 36.79. Usually, if a stock has a high P/E ratio, it indicates that the market expects the company to grow earnings quickly in the future. A high or low P/E ratio is not good or bad in and of itself, but a company trading with a high P/E ratio must continue to post strong financial performance or its stock price is likely to fall. SEE: Can Investors Trust the P/E Ratio?
Boston Beer Co (NYSE:SAM) is currently trading at a share price of $100.95, a 2.5% decline. At 115,264 shares, the company's volume so far today is 1.2 times its current daily average. The trading volume for a stock indicates the level of investor interest. In making a decision about a potential or existing investment, valuation ratios are useful as a basis for seeing whether the stock price is too high, reasonable, or a bargain. The price/book value ratio is calculated by dividing the current stock price by the company's book value per share. SAM has a P/B ratio of 6.2 which shows that its share price is higher than its book value. This implies that investors expect management to create more value from a given set of assets and/or that the market value of the firm's assets is significantly higher than their accounting value. One problem with the P/B value ratio is that it can be difficult to calculate the true book value of a company, so investors should be aware that many measures of book value may provide only a rough estimate, and should be taken with a grain of salt. SEE: Investment Valuation Ratios: Price/Book Value Ratio
At $59.81, Monster (Nasdaq:MNST) has slipped 2.4%. So far today, one million shares have changed hands. In technical analysis, trading volume is used to determine the strength of a market indicator. Investment valuation ratios can be very useful in estimating whether a stock price is too high, reasonable or a bargain investment opportunity. The debt ratio gives users a quick measure of the amount of debt that the company has on its balance sheets compared to its assets. MNST's debt ratio of 25.8% is on the low side. In other words, the company is less sensitive to changes in business or interest rates since less of its cash flow is dedicated to paying off loan expenses. As with all financial ratios, a company's debt ratio should be compared with the industry average or similar companies.
The Bottom Line The nature of the market is such that stocks will have good days and bad days. Daily stock performance should be weighed against historical performance and put in context of the market overall. However, these fundamental metrics must be analyzed with historic data, industry information in addition to firm specific financial statements.
The Consumer/Non-Cyclical sector (XLP) is down 0.5%, underperforming the market overall. The current biggest movers in the sector are:
| Company | Market Cap | Percentage Change |
| Hain Celestial Group (Nasdaq:HAIN) | $2.55 billion | +18.3% |
| Lancaster (Nasdaq:LANC) | $1.89 billion | +3.4% |
| United Natural Foods (Nasdaq:UNFI) | $2.67 billion | +3% |
| Blyth (NYSE:BTH) | $694.8 million | +2.6% |
| Annies (NYSE:BNNY) | $632.2 million | +2.5% |
| Boston Beer Co (NYSE:SAM) | $1.34 billion | -2.5% |
| Monster (Nasdaq:MNST) | $10.82 billion | -2.4% |
Hain Celestial Group (Nasdaq:HAIN) is trading at $67.33 per share, a significant rise of 18.3%. So far today, 2.9 million shares have changed hands. This is 5.2 times its current three-month average. Volume is also used as a secondary indicator to help confirm what the price movement is suggesting. It is important for an investor to estimate the value of any potential or existing investment; valuation ratios make this easier. The price/earnings to growth (PEG) ratio compares a company's P/E ratio to its earnings-per-share growth rate, which tells you whether or not you are getting a good value when purchasing a stock with a high price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio). PEG ratio for HAIN is consistent with the industry average at 2.54. Because of the adjustment for earnings growth rate, the PEG ratio is somewhat more useful than many formulas for comparing companies in different industries.
Increasing 3.4%, Lancaster (Nasdaq:LANC) is trading at $71.69 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 43,373 shares, 0.9 times the current daily average. Price change alone is not enough to know how a stock is doing. Volume is an important secondary indicator used to confirm trends suggested by price movement. Looking at a company's valuation ratios is a good way of getting a basic idea as to its value as an investment. The price/book value ratio provides a way of evaluating whether a stock is relatively cheap or expensive. LANC's stock is trading for more than its book value with a P/B ratio of 3.54. It is important to take the company's debt into account when using the P/B ratio as debt can boost a company's liabilities to the point where they wipe out much of the book value of its hard assets, creating artificially high P/B values. P/B has its shortcomings but is still widely used as a valuation metric, more relevant for use by investors looking at capital-intensive or finance-related businesses, such as banks; book value does not carry much meaning for service-based firms with few tangible assets. SEE: How Buybacks Warps The Price-To-Book Ratio
After rising 3%, United Natural Foods (Nasdaq:UNFI) is currently trading at a share price of $56.33. So far today, the company's volume is 145,356 shares. High volume indicates a lot of investor interest while low volume indicates the opposite. Investment valuation ratios provide investors with an estimation, albeit a simplistic one, of the value of a stock. To a large degree, the debt-equity (D/E) ratio provides another vantage point on a company's leverage position, in this case, comparing total liabilities to shareholders' equity, as opposed to total assets in the debt ratio. UNFI has a low debt-equity ratio of 22%. This shows that the company's assets are financed primarily through equity. This easy-to-calculate ratio provides a general indication of a company's equity-liability relationship and is helpful to investors looking for a quick take on a company's leverage.
Blyth (NYSE:BTH) is up 2.6% to reach a current price of $41.36 per share. So far today, 109,088 shares have changed hands, lighter than yesterday's volume of 542,636 shares. A stock's volume conveys how excited investors are about it. Valuation ratios like the price to earnings (P/E) ratio, the price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio, the price to sales (P/S) ratio, the price to book (P/B) ratio, and the dividend yield are useful in determining how attractive a potential or existing investment is. The debt ratio measures the leverage of a company, and a company's leverage is a good way to assess risk. BTH's debt ratio of 77.7% is fairly high. This means that most of the company's assets are financed through debt. However, one thing to note with this ratio: it isn't a pure measure of a company's debt (or indebtedness), as it also includes operational liabilities, such as accounts payable and taxes payable.
Annies (NYSE:BNNY) is currently trading at $38.00 per share, a 2.5% increase. The company is currently trading a volume of 131,079 shares. This is 0.6 times its average volume over the past three months. Volume indicates the level of interest that investors have in a company at its current price. A company's value as an investment is more easily estimated using valuation ratios such as the price to earnings (P/E) ratio, the price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio, the price to sales (P/S) ratio, the price to book (P/B) ratio, and the dividend yield. One of the most important estimates of stock market valuation is the price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio). BNNY's P/E ratio of 162.2 is above the industry average of 36.79. Usually, if a stock has a high P/E ratio, it indicates that the market expects the company to grow earnings quickly in the future. A high or low P/E ratio is not good or bad in and of itself, but a company trading with a high P/E ratio must continue to post strong financial performance or its stock price is likely to fall. SEE: Can Investors Trust the P/E Ratio?
Boston Beer Co (NYSE:SAM) is currently trading at a share price of $100.95, a 2.5% decline. At 115,264 shares, the company's volume so far today is 1.2 times its current daily average. The trading volume for a stock indicates the level of investor interest. In making a decision about a potential or existing investment, valuation ratios are useful as a basis for seeing whether the stock price is too high, reasonable, or a bargain. The price/book value ratio is calculated by dividing the current stock price by the company's book value per share. SAM has a P/B ratio of 6.2 which shows that its share price is higher than its book value. This implies that investors expect management to create more value from a given set of assets and/or that the market value of the firm's assets is significantly higher than their accounting value. One problem with the P/B value ratio is that it can be difficult to calculate the true book value of a company, so investors should be aware that many measures of book value may provide only a rough estimate, and should be taken with a grain of salt. SEE: Investment Valuation Ratios: Price/Book Value Ratio
At $59.81, Monster (Nasdaq:MNST) has slipped 2.4%. So far today, one million shares have changed hands. In technical analysis, trading volume is used to determine the strength of a market indicator. Investment valuation ratios can be very useful in estimating whether a stock price is too high, reasonable or a bargain investment opportunity. The debt ratio gives users a quick measure of the amount of debt that the company has on its balance sheets compared to its assets. MNST's debt ratio of 25.8% is on the low side. In other words, the company is less sensitive to changes in business or interest rates since less of its cash flow is dedicated to paying off loan expenses. As with all financial ratios, a company's debt ratio should be compared with the industry average or similar companies.
The Bottom Line The nature of the market is such that stocks will have good days and bad days. Daily stock performance should be weighed against historical performance and put in context of the market overall. However, these fundamental metrics must be analyzed with historic data, industry information in addition to firm specific financial statements.
by
Investopedia Staff
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