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Services Stocks, Including China Telecom Corporation Limited, Making Big Moves on September 11, 2012
The Nasdaq has climbed 0.3%, the S&P 500 is up 0.6% and the Dow has risen 0.7%, marking a bad morning for the market.
The Services sector (IYC) is up 0.1%, underperforming the market overall. The biggest movers in the sector are currently:
Broker Summary: Fidelity Online Brokerage
After a decline of 8.4%, Five Below (Nasdaq:FIVE) has hit a share price of $31.87. The company's volume for the day so far is 1.2 million shares. This is 4.7 times its current three-month average. High volume indicates a lot of investor interest while low volume indicates the opposite. Investors can make use of valuation ratios to estimate whether a stock is fairly valued. The easy-to-calculate debt ratio is helpful to investors looking for a quick take on the leverage for a company. FIVE has a high debt ratio of 122.2%. As such, the company is highly leveraged and not highly liquid. 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.
Casey's General Stores (Nasdaq:CASY) is at $58.83 per share after an increase of 5.7%. So far today, the company's volume is 599,730 shares, 2.5 times the current daily average. The trading volume for a stock indicates the level of investor interest. Understanding investment valuation ratios allows an investor to assess the true value of an individual stock. Price/earnings ratios (P/E ratios) provide a measure of the relative value of a stock. CASY has a P/E ratio of 18.3, in line with the industry average. From the investor's perspective, a stock with a lower ratio is relatively cheaper than a stock with a higher ratio. SEE: How To Use The P/E Ratio And PEG To Tell The Future Of A Stock
Textainer Group (NYSE:TGH) has fallen 4.1% and is currently trading at $33.75 per share. So far today, 104,239 shares have changed hands. When a stock price moves up or down, watching the volume is a good way of identifying how significant that shift is. When estimating the value of a particular investment, valuation ratios provide a good basis for assessing the value of an individual 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. The D/E ratio for TGH is 227%. Generally, a high D/E ratio means that the company may have difficulty generating enough cash to pay off its debts. 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.
Slipping 3.8%, Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) is currently trading at $44.15 per share. So far today, 854,662 shares have changed hands, whereas yesterday, volume was only 77,704 shares. Volume is also used as a secondary indicator to help confirm what the price movement is suggesting. 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 capitalization ratio measures the debt component of the capital structure, or capitalization of a company (i.e., the sum of long-term debt liabilities and shareholder equity) to support operations and growth. SUI has a capitalization ratio of 99.6%, which is on the high end. If the company is a company is in a highly competitive business and hobbled by high debt, it will find its competitors taking advantage of its problems to grab more market share. The capitalization ratio is one of the more meaningful debt ratios because it focuses on the relationship of debt liabilities as a component of a company's total capital base, which is the capital raised by shareholders and lenders.
After rising 3.3%, Mattress (Nasdaq:MFRM) is currently trading at a share price of $32.55. This morning, the company is trading a volume of 47,188 shares. This is 0.1 times its average volume over the past three months. Volume is an important indicator in technical analysis as it is used to measure the worth of a market move. If the markets have made a strong price move either up or down the perceived strength of that move depends on the volume for that period. The higher the volume during that price move the more significant the move. 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. The price/earnings to growth (PEG) ratio is calculated by dividing the price/earnings ratio by growth in earnings-per-share; the lower the PEG ratio, the more reasonably valued the security. MFRM has a PEG ratio of 1.03, which is consistent with the industry average. While P/E ratios are important indicators of market value, a high P/E in and of itself is not bad because it may indicate a company whose earnings are growing very rapidly, so many investors look at the PEG ratio in order to get an idea of whether or not a particular P/E ratio is justified by underlying earnings growth.
China Telecom Corporation Limited (NYSE:CHA) has risen 2.5% and is currently trading at $58.79 per share. At 8,271 shares, the company's volume so far today is 0.1 times its current daily average. As a stock moves up or down, it is important to pay attention to the trading volume. This indicates the level of interest: the higher the volume, the more the interest. Valuation ratios include 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. The price/book value ratio provides a way of evaluating whether a stock is relatively cheap or expensive. CHA has a P/B ratio of 1.17 which shows that its share price is higher than its book value. This may be a sign that the company is overvalued. Users need to be careful when applying this ratio though, as it is more useful for industrial companies that have a lot of tangible assets than it is for technology or consumer product companies that may not have much in the way of hard assets. SEE: Investment Valuation Ratios: Price/Book Value Ratio
Increasing 2%, Strayer Education (Nasdaq:STRA) is trading at $70.63 per share. The company's volume for the day so far is 21,249 shares. If a stock price makes a big move up or down, volume lets us know the significance of that move. Investors can use valuation ratios as tools to estimate what kind of deal a particular investment is. Dividend yield is a way to measure how much cash flow you are getting for each dollar invested in an equity position - in other words, how much "bang for your buck" you are getting from dividends. STRA has a dividend yield of 5.8%. A stock's dividend yield depends on the nature of a company's business, its posture in the marketplace (value or growth oriented), its earnings and cash flow, and its dividend policy. SEE: Due Diligence On Dividends
The Bottom Line On any given day, a particular stock may see positive or negative change in its share price. Paying close attention to the previous ratios will help you identify key times to adjust your strategy. Keep in mind that all these ratios should be compared against historical numbers and industry information in order to get a more complete picture.
The Services sector (IYC) is up 0.1%, underperforming the market overall. The biggest movers in the sector are currently:
| Company | Market Cap | Percentage Change |
| Five Below (Nasdaq:FIVE) | $1.88 billion | -8.4% |
| Casey\'s General Stores (Nasdaq:CASY) | $2.13 billion | +5.7% |
| Textainer Group (NYSE:TGH) | $1.75 billion | -4.1% |
| Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) | $1.22 billion | -3.8% |
| Mattress (Nasdaq:MFRM) | $1.06 billion | +3.3% |
| China Telecom Corporation Limited (NYSE:CHA) | $46.44 billion | +2.5% |
| Strayer Education (Nasdaq:STRA) | $822.5 million | +2% |
After a decline of 8.4%, Five Below (Nasdaq:FIVE) has hit a share price of $31.87. The company's volume for the day so far is 1.2 million shares. This is 4.7 times its current three-month average. High volume indicates a lot of investor interest while low volume indicates the opposite. Investors can make use of valuation ratios to estimate whether a stock is fairly valued. The easy-to-calculate debt ratio is helpful to investors looking for a quick take on the leverage for a company. FIVE has a high debt ratio of 122.2%. As such, the company is highly leveraged and not highly liquid. 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.
Casey's General Stores (Nasdaq:CASY) is at $58.83 per share after an increase of 5.7%. So far today, the company's volume is 599,730 shares, 2.5 times the current daily average. The trading volume for a stock indicates the level of investor interest. Understanding investment valuation ratios allows an investor to assess the true value of an individual stock. Price/earnings ratios (P/E ratios) provide a measure of the relative value of a stock. CASY has a P/E ratio of 18.3, in line with the industry average. From the investor's perspective, a stock with a lower ratio is relatively cheaper than a stock with a higher ratio. SEE: How To Use The P/E Ratio And PEG To Tell The Future Of A Stock
Textainer Group (NYSE:TGH) has fallen 4.1% and is currently trading at $33.75 per share. So far today, 104,239 shares have changed hands. When a stock price moves up or down, watching the volume is a good way of identifying how significant that shift is. When estimating the value of a particular investment, valuation ratios provide a good basis for assessing the value of an individual 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. The D/E ratio for TGH is 227%. Generally, a high D/E ratio means that the company may have difficulty generating enough cash to pay off its debts. 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.
Slipping 3.8%, Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) is currently trading at $44.15 per share. So far today, 854,662 shares have changed hands, whereas yesterday, volume was only 77,704 shares. Volume is also used as a secondary indicator to help confirm what the price movement is suggesting. 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 capitalization ratio measures the debt component of the capital structure, or capitalization of a company (i.e., the sum of long-term debt liabilities and shareholder equity) to support operations and growth. SUI has a capitalization ratio of 99.6%, which is on the high end. If the company is a company is in a highly competitive business and hobbled by high debt, it will find its competitors taking advantage of its problems to grab more market share. The capitalization ratio is one of the more meaningful debt ratios because it focuses on the relationship of debt liabilities as a component of a company's total capital base, which is the capital raised by shareholders and lenders.
After rising 3.3%, Mattress (Nasdaq:MFRM) is currently trading at a share price of $32.55. This morning, the company is trading a volume of 47,188 shares. This is 0.1 times its average volume over the past three months. Volume is an important indicator in technical analysis as it is used to measure the worth of a market move. If the markets have made a strong price move either up or down the perceived strength of that move depends on the volume for that period. The higher the volume during that price move the more significant the move. 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. The price/earnings to growth (PEG) ratio is calculated by dividing the price/earnings ratio by growth in earnings-per-share; the lower the PEG ratio, the more reasonably valued the security. MFRM has a PEG ratio of 1.03, which is consistent with the industry average. While P/E ratios are important indicators of market value, a high P/E in and of itself is not bad because it may indicate a company whose earnings are growing very rapidly, so many investors look at the PEG ratio in order to get an idea of whether or not a particular P/E ratio is justified by underlying earnings growth.
China Telecom Corporation Limited (NYSE:CHA) has risen 2.5% and is currently trading at $58.79 per share. At 8,271 shares, the company's volume so far today is 0.1 times its current daily average. As a stock moves up or down, it is important to pay attention to the trading volume. This indicates the level of interest: the higher the volume, the more the interest. Valuation ratios include 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. The price/book value ratio provides a way of evaluating whether a stock is relatively cheap or expensive. CHA has a P/B ratio of 1.17 which shows that its share price is higher than its book value. This may be a sign that the company is overvalued. Users need to be careful when applying this ratio though, as it is more useful for industrial companies that have a lot of tangible assets than it is for technology or consumer product companies that may not have much in the way of hard assets. SEE: Investment Valuation Ratios: Price/Book Value Ratio
Increasing 2%, Strayer Education (Nasdaq:STRA) is trading at $70.63 per share. The company's volume for the day so far is 21,249 shares. If a stock price makes a big move up or down, volume lets us know the significance of that move. Investors can use valuation ratios as tools to estimate what kind of deal a particular investment is. Dividend yield is a way to measure how much cash flow you are getting for each dollar invested in an equity position - in other words, how much "bang for your buck" you are getting from dividends. STRA has a dividend yield of 5.8%. A stock's dividend yield depends on the nature of a company's business, its posture in the marketplace (value or growth oriented), its earnings and cash flow, and its dividend policy. SEE: Due Diligence On Dividends
The Bottom Line On any given day, a particular stock may see positive or negative change in its share price. Paying close attention to the previous ratios will help you identify key times to adjust your strategy. Keep in mind that all these ratios should be compared against historical numbers and industry information in order to get a more complete picture.
by
Investopedia Staff
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