Fact based stock research
Smartgroup (ASX:SIQ)

AU000000SIQ4

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For every stock, we judge its performance against its peers and rank it on a scale of 1 to 100. The higher the rank, the better the stock performs than its peers. And, we do this for six investment strategies:
Value - shows how good of a value the stock is. Green is "inexpensive"; red is "expensive".

Growth - shows a company's growth potential. Green is "high growth" expected; red is "tough times ahead".

Safety - relates to the amount of debt a company has. Green is low debt level; red is high debt level.

Combined Financial - this isn't an average of the first three ranks but rather a consolidated view across several financial indicators. Green = good; red = tread carefully.

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Smartgroup stock research in summary

smartgroup.com.au


ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Combined Rank of 41 (worse than 59% compared with investment alternatives), Smartgroup (HR- & Employment Services, Australia) shares have somewhat below-average financial characteristics compared with similar stocks. Shares of Smartgroup are low in value (priced high) with a consolidated Value Rank of 39 (worse than 61% of alternatives), and are riskily financed (Safety Rank of 20, which means above-average debt burdens) but show above-average growth (Growth Rank of 81). ...read more


RECOMMENDATION: A Combined Rank of 41, is a hold recommendation based on Smartgroup's financial characteristics. As the company Smartgroup shows low value with an Obermatt Value Rank of 39 (61% of comparable investments are less expensive), investors should look at the other ranks. In this case, growth is expected to be above-average, better than 81% of comparable companies (Obermatt Growth Rank is 81). This is a typical case. Companies with above average growth tend to cost more than stocks with slower growth expectations. If this is a high-growth company, the low Obermatt Safety Rank of 20 is a good sign. The more debt a well-performing company has, the higher the returns to shareholders. However, if growth turns negative or interest rates increase, high debt may become a burden. If you believe the future is bright for Smartgroup, even a low-value company (in terms of its key financial indicators) can be a good investment. Obermatt Premium subscribers can further check the stock’s Sentiment Ranks, which also flow into the Obermatt 360° View for investors. ...read more


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Country Australia
Industry HR- & Employment Services
Index ASX 200, ASX 300
Size class Small

This stock has achievements: Top 10 Stock.

21-Mar-2024. Stock data may be delayed. Log in or sign up to get the most recent research.




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Research History: Smartgroup

RESEARCH HISTORY 2021 2022 2023 2024
VALUE
VALUE
GROWTH
GROWTH
SAFETY
SAFETY
SENTIMENT
SENTIMENT
360° VIEW
360° VIEW

Most recent update of the stock research: 21-Mar-2024. Financial reporting date used for calculating ranks: 30-Jun-2023. Stock research history is based on the Obermatt Method. The higher the rank, the better Smartgroup is in the corresponding investment strategy.
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Combined financial peformance in Detail

ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Combined Rank of 41 (worse than 59% compared with investment alternatives), Smartgroup (HR- & Employment Services, Australia) shares have somewhat below-average financial characteristics compared with similar stocks. Shares of Smartgroup are low in value (priced high) with a consolidated Value Rank of 39 (worse than 61% of alternatives), and are riskily financed (Safety Rank of 20, which means above-average debt burdens) but show above-average growth (Growth Rank of 81). ...read more

RECOMMENDATION: A Combined Rank of 41, is a hold recommendation based on Smartgroup's financial characteristics. As the company Smartgroup shows low value with an Obermatt Value Rank of 39 (61% of comparable investments are less expensive), investors should look at the other ranks. In this case, growth is expected to be above-average, better than 81% of comparable companies (Obermatt Growth Rank is 81). This is a typical case. Companies with above average growth tend to cost more than stocks with slower growth expectations. If this is a high-growth company, the low Obermatt Safety Rank of 20 is a good sign. The more debt a well-performing company has, the higher the returns to shareholders. However, if growth turns negative or interest rates increase, high debt may become a burden. If you believe the future is bright for Smartgroup, even a low-value company (in terms of its key financial indicators) can be a good investment. Obermatt Premium subscribers can further check the stock’s Sentiment Ranks, which also flow into the Obermatt 360° View for investors. ...read more

RESEARCH HISTORY 2021 2022 2023 2024
VALUE
VALUE
GROWTH
GROWTH
SAFETY
SAFETY
COMBINED
COMBINED

Last update of combined financial performance: 21-Mar-2024. Stock analysis on combined financial performance: The higher the rank of Smartgroup the better the performance.


Value Metrics in Detail

ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Value Rank of 39 (worse than 61% compared with alternatives), Smartgroup shares are more expensive than the average comparable stock. The Value Rank is based on consolidating four value indicators, with half of the indicators below and half above average for Smartgroup. Price-to-Profit (also referred to as price-earnings, P/E) is 55 which means that the stock price compared with what market professionals expect for future profits is lower than for 55% of comparable companies, indicating a good value concerning Smartgroup's profit levels. The same is valid for Price-to-Book Capital (also referred to as market-to-book ratio) with a Price-to-Book Rank of 24, which means that the stock price is lower as regards to invested capital than for 24% of comparable investments. On the other hand, Price-to-Sales is less favorable than 88% of alternatives (only 12% of peers have an even less favorable ratio). The same is valid for dividend yield, which is lower than 8% of comparable companies, making the stock more expensive as regards to the company's expected dividend payouts. ...read more

RECOMMENDATION: The overall picture with a consolidated Value Rank of 39, is a hold recommendation based on Smartgroup's stock price compared with the company's operational size and dividend yields. This is a puzzling picture, because it means that profits are high while dividends are low. Since the stock price is low compared with invested capital but high in respect to expected revenues, it means that the company has more invested capital than peers for generating the same amount of revenue. Since profits are higher, it could be a "cash cow" situation (using the classic Boston Consulting BCG matrix naming convention) where the company is on a downward trend, still living from the profits of past products. As the company pays low dividends, it may harbor the opinion that a turnaround is possible, and it rather invests the cash than pay it out to shareholders, thus sealing the company's fate early. Any investment optimism should only be a buy trigger once thorough research is completed. We recommend further analyzing the stock with Obermatt’s Value, Safety, and Sentiment Ranks, including the 360° View, before making an investment decision, which is especially important in this case, as the financial indicators are inconclusive. ...read more


VALUE METRICS 2021 2022 2023 2024
PRICE VS. REVENUES (P/S)
PRICE VS. REVENUES (P/S)
PRICE VS. PROFITS (P/E)
PRICE VS. PROFITS (P/E)
PRICE VS. CAPITAL (Market-to-Book)
PRICE VS. CAPITAL (Market-to-Book)
DIVIDEND YIELD
DIVIDEND YIELD
CONSOLIDATED RANK: VALUE
CONSOLIDATED RANK: VALUE

Last update of Value Rank: 21-Mar-2024. Stock analysis on value ratios: The higher the rank, the lower the value ratio of Smartgroup; except for dividend yield where the rank is higher, the higher the yield.


Growth Metrics in Detail

ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Growth Rank of 81 (better than 81% compared with alternatives) for 2024, Smartgroup shows one of the highest growth dynamics in its industry. Investors also speak of high momentum. The Growth Rank is based on consolidating four value indicators, with all but one indicator above average for Smartgroup. Sales Growth has a rank of 61 which means that currently, professionals expect the company to grow more than 61% of its competitors. Both Profit Growth, with a rank of 60, and Stock Returns, with a rank of 97, are also above average. But Capital Growth only has a rank of 12, which means that, currently, professionals expect the company to grow its invested capital less than 88% of its competitors. ...read more

RECOMMENDATION: The overall picture with a consolidated Growth Rank of 81, is a buy recommendation for growth and momentum investors. That may be a good sign if the company is already well positioned and doesn't require more investments at this time. They may focus on growing the top (revenues) and bottom (profits) lines, recently rewarded with above-average stock returns for shareholders. But it may also be a sign of danger as the company is falling back with capital investment activities concerning competition. This requires further analysis of corporate communications. While momentum is a popular investment factor, the value aspect might be the more important one, in the longer term. We recommend analyzing the stock with Obermatt’s Value, Safety, and Sentiment Ranks to arrive at a 360° View of the stock purchase case. ...read more

GROWTH METRICS 2021 2022 2023 2024
REVENUE GROWTH
REVENUE GROWTH
PROFIT GROWTH
PROFIT GROWTH
CAPITAL GROWTH
CAPITAL GROWTH
STOCK RETURNS
STOCK RETURNS
CONSOLIDATED RANK: GROWTH
CONSOLIDATED RANK: GROWTH

Last update of Growth Rank: 21-Mar-2024. Stock analysis on growth metrics: The higher the rank, the higher the growth and returns of Smartgroup.


Safety Metrics in Detail

ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Safety Rank of 20 (better than 20% compared with alternatives), the company Smartgroup has much riskier financing practices than comparable other companies, which means that their overall debt burden is significantly above the industry average. This doesn't mean that the business of Smartgroup is also risky, it only means that the company is on the riskier side in respect to bankruptcy in case things turn sour, assuming that public reporting is correct. The Safety Rank is based on consolidating three financing indicators, with all three metrics below average for Smartgroup. Liquidity is at 33, meaning that the company generates less profit to service its debt than 67% of its competitors. This indicates that the company is on the riskier side when it comes to debt service. Even worse, Leverage is at a rank of 42, meaning the company has an above-average debt-to-equity ratio. It has more debt than 58% of its competitors. Finally, Refinancing is at a rank of 8 which means that the portion of the debt about to be refinanced is above average. It has more debt in the refinancing stage than 92% of its competitors. ...read more

RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated Safety Rank of 20 (worse than 80% compared with alternatives), Smartgroup has a financing structure that is significantly riskier than that of its competitors. This combination is rather dangerous in most situations. Only very promising companies with bright future outlooks and stellar reputations can operate with such risky financing. Investors should look at Obermatt’s Value, Growth, and Sentiment Ranks to confirm a very positive outlook or be careful with investing in stocks of Smartgroup because it may suffer significantly in case of future difficulties. ...read more

SAFETY METRICS 2021 2022 2023 2024
LEVERAGE
LEVERAGE
REFINANCING
REFINANCING
LIQUIDITY
LIQUIDITY
CONSOLIDATED RANK: SAFETY
CONSOLIDATED RANK: SAFETY

Last update of Safety Rank: 21-Mar-2024. Stock analysis on safety metrics: The higher the rank, the lower the leverage of Smartgroup and the more cash is available to service its debt.


Sentiment Metrics in Detail

SENTIMENT 2021 2022 2023 2024
ANALYST OPINIONS
ANALYST OPINIONS
OPINIONS CHANGE
OPINIONS CHANGE
PRO HOLDINGS
PRO HOLDINGS
MARKET PULSE
MARKET PULSE
CONSOLIDATED RANK: SENTIMENT
CONSOLIDATED RANK: SENTIMENT

Last update of Sentiment Rank: 21-Mar-2024. Stock analysis on sentiment metrics: The higher the rank, the more positive the sentiment for Smartgroup.
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Stock analysis by the purely fact based Obermatt Method for Smartgroup from March 21, 2024.

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