Apr 9 2008

Dividend Stock Wednesday: Potash Corp. (POT – NYSE)


This is an analysis completed by The Dividend Guy. It is not to be used as investment advice or a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell any stocks discussed. Please ensure you complete your own analysis.

Potash Corp

Having lived in Saskatchewan when I was a young lad, I heard about this huge company called Potash Corp. My family even had friends who worked there so I remember vividly going to one of their locations and seeing the mountains of this white snow-like stuff all over the place. That was potash. I had no idea this stuff was used since antiquity in the manufacture of glass and soap and as a fertilizer. In reading over at the Investors Business Digest, I noticed that it was number four on their list of top 100 stocks. As you will see the EPS and revenue performance of this stock is nothing short of spectacular. I thought I would have a look at it to see how it looks as an investment given my criteria.

3 Points

The Company: Potash Corp. (POT-NYSE)

The Company is a fertilizer enterprise producing the three primary plant nutrients: nitrogen, phosphate and, potash. The company supplies to three distinct market categories: agriculture, animal nutrition, and industrial chemicals.

Dividend Aristocrat (25+ yrs dividend growth)
No
Dividend Achiever (10+ yrs dividend growth)
No


THE FUNDAMENTALS

Revenue

POT - RevenueClick to Enlarge

Revenue Scoring

Criteria Scoring
Consistenly Up with No Down Years 1.0
Up Trend with Less Than 2 Down Years 0.5
Choppy with Greater Than 2 Down Years 0.0
My Revenue Score 0.0

Earnings Per Share

POT - EPSClick to Enlarge

Earnings Per Share Scoring

Criteria Scoring
Consistenly Up with No Down Years 1.0
Up Trend with Less Than 2 Down Years 0.5
Choppy with Greater Than 2 Down Years 0.0
My EPS Score 0.0

TOTAL FUNDAMENTALS SCORE: 0.0


THE RATIOS

Return on Equity

POT - ROEClick to Enlarge

Return on Equity Scoring

Criteria Scoring
Above 15% for Last 5 Years 1.0
At Least One Year Below 15% in Last 5 Years 0.0
My ROE Score 0.0

Other Ratios

Ratio Criteria Value Score (Pass=1 / Fail = 0)
Debt to Equity Less Than 0.50 0.24 1.0
Payout Ratio Less Than 60% 9% 1.0
Credit Rating BBB+ BBB+ 1.0
Total Ratio Score
3.0

TOTAL RATIOS SCORE: 3.0


DIVIDEND DATA
Annual Dividends

POT - DPSClick to Enlarge

Dividend Scoring

Criteria Scoring
25+ Years of Dividend Growth 1.0
10+ Years of Dividend Growth 1.0
Less Than 10 Years of Dividend Growth 0.0
My Dividend Growth Score 0.0

TOTAL DIVIDEND GROWTH SCORE: 0.0


STOCK VALUATION

Valuation Metric Criteria Value Score (Pass=1 / Fail = 0)
Dividend Yield Cur Yld Greater Than 10 Yr Avg Yld 1.3% 0.0
Div Yld Compared to SPY Div Yld Cur Yld Greater Than SPY Yld 2.4% 0.0
P/E Ratio Cur P/E Less Than 10 Yr Avg P/E 28.5 0.0
Relative P/E Relative P/E Less Than 1.0 1.56 0.0
Price to Sales Less Than 1.5 10.3 0.0
Total Ratio Valuation Score
0.0

Canadian Shareowner’s Association Stock Selection Guide Software Buy Price

Buy Zone
Maybe Zone
Sell Zone
Current Price Rating Scoring (Buy=1.0, Other=0.0)
$140.00 to $169.31
$169.31 to $198.61
$198.61 to $227.92
$170.89
Maybe
0.0

TOTAL STOCK VALUATION SCORE: 0.0


SUMMARY

Points Earned:

3 out of 14 – half points are rounded down to be conservative

The stock is rated LOW with 3 points earned through my analysis of the stock. This stock has seen some spectacular growth in the past couple of years. In fact, the EPS growth rate in the most recent year over year comparison is 86.9% compared to the 10 year average of only 12.9. This company has managed to drastically improve performance as well as sales, which are up 39% in the most recent year. However, if we look back more long term the results are not consistent. Both sales and EPS have gone up and down in the past. Dividend growth has also been slow – they have obviously been plowing money back into the company to continue growth. From my perspective, I will not be buying this stock. I will want to see a couple of extra years of strong performance. If the company drops the ball and growth slows, then I believe investors will be quick to scold the company and the share price.

Rating Points Required
High 11+ points
Medium 8-10 points
Low < 8 points

Reminder: This is an analysis completed by The Dividend Guy. It is not to be used as investment advice or a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell any stocks discussed. Please ensure you complete your own analysis.

The Dividend Guy does not own shares in TGT



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4 Comments on this post

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  1. Dividend Stock Wednesday: Potash Corp. (POT - NYSE) wrote:

    [...] Dividend Stock Wednesday: Potash Corp. (POT – NYSE) Ratio, Criteria, Value, Score (Pass=1 / Fail = 0). Debt to Equity, Less Than 0.50, 0.24, 1.0. Payout Ratio, Less Than 60%, 9%, 1.0. Credit Rating, BBB+, BBB+, 1.0. Total Ratio Score … [...]

    April 10th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
  1. Patty said:

    I am confused with this visual chart, and would like education according:
    Dividend Scoring

    Criteria Scoring
    25+ Years of Dividend Growth 1.0
    10+ Years of Dividend Growth 1.0
    Less Than 10 Years of Dividend Growth 0.0
    My Dividend Growth Score 0.0

    TOTAL DIVIDEND GROWTH SCORE: 0.0

    In reading this chart it would appear that if 1 is pass/ 0 is fail, I should expect the TOTAL DIVIDEND GROWTH SCORE: to be 2 instead of 0. Would you please explain what I am missing when you calculate to a 0.0 score?

    April 9th, 2008 at 8:00 am
  2. The Dividend Guy said:

    Hi Patty,

    Thanks for the question – this is probably not as clear as it should be. The way I score for the dividends is a little different from some of the other metrics. In this case, the company gets 1 point each for being in the 25+ and the 10+ camp – for a possible 2 points. If the dividend increase is not consistent then it gets zero.

    What the chart is showing is how I actually score it – not that the company has earned 1 point for each. In this case, Potash has not increased dividends consistently so I have given them a zero. Had they had 25 years they would have received the 2 points. Is that more clear – let me know.

    The Dividend Guy

    April 10th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
  3. Gary Wegner said:

    This posting is ancient history – many moons have come and gone since the per share price of this company was above $135.00.

    Today on June 7, 2010 with the share price of POT threatening to dip
    below $100.00 CDN, a 10 cent per per share quarterly dividend, is not something about which to write home to Moma about – unless you
    happen to be one who is all smiles with a 0.4% annual yield on your
    money. Good luck and happy investing !

    June 7th, 2010 at 12:22 pm

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