The following are today’s upgrades for Validea’s Book/Market Investor model based on the published strategy of Joseph Piotroski. This value-quant strategy screens for high book-to-market stocks, and then separates out financially sound firms by looking at a host of improving financial criteria.
BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO PLC (ADR) (BTI) is a large-cap value stock in the Tobacco industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joseph Piotroski changed from 0% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: British American Tobacco p.l.c. is a United Kingdom-based, multi-category consumer goods company that provides tobacco and nicotine products. The Company invests in building a portfolio of tobacco and nicotine products alongside its traditional tobacco business, including vapour products, tobacco heating products (THPs) and modern oral products. It manages a globally integrated supply chain, and its products are distributed to retail outlets across the world. The Company’s segments include the United States, Asia-Pacific and Middle East, Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa, and Europe and North Africa. The Company’s products as sold in the United States, including Vuse, Velo, Grizzly, Kodiak, and Camel Snus. Its vapour products are hand-held, battery-powered devices that heat a liquid and creates a vapor to be inhaled. Its THP products do not burn tobacco and no smoke is produced. Its modern oral products are white in color and contain nicotine, water, and other food-grade ingredients.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy’s tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy’s criteria.
| BOOK/MARKET RATIO: | PASS |
| RETURN ON ASSETS: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN RETURN ON ASSETS: | FAIL |
| CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS: | PASS |
| CASH COMPARED TO NET INCOME: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN LONG TERM DEBT/ASSETS | PASS |
| CHANGE IN CURRENT RATIO: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN SHARES OUTSTANDING: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN GROSS MARGIN: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN ASSET TURNOVER: | FAIL |
Detailed Analysis of BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO PLC (ADR)
CORECIVIC INC (CXW) is a mid-cap value stock in the Business Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joseph Piotroski changed from 0% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: CoreCivic, Inc. is a diversified government solutions company, which is engaged in providing partnership correctional, detention and residential reentry facilities and operates prison in the United States. The Company’s principal business segments include CoreCivic Safety, CoreCivic Community and CoreCivic Properties. CoreCivic Safety segment consists of approximately 46 correctional and detention facilities. CoreCivic Community segment consists of approximately 26 residential reentry centers. CoreCivic Community also includes the operating results of its electronic monitoring and case management services. CoreCivic Properties segment consists of approximately 10 real estate properties. The Company provides a range of solutions to government partners that serve the public good through corrections and detention management, a network of residential reentry centers to help address America’s recidivism crisis, and government real estate solutions.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy’s tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy’s criteria.
| BOOK/MARKET RATIO: | PASS |
| RETURN ON ASSETS: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN RETURN ON ASSETS: | PASS |
| CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS: | PASS |
| CASH COMPARED TO NET INCOME: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN LONG TERM DEBT/ASSETS | PASS |
| CHANGE IN CURRENT RATIO: | FAIL |
| CHANGE IN SHARES OUTSTANDING: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN GROSS MARGIN: | FAIL |
| CHANGE IN ASSET TURNOVER: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of CORECIVIC INC
VNET GROUP INC – ADR (VNET) is a small-cap value stock in the Computer Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joseph Piotroski changed from 0% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: VNET Group Inc, formerly 21Vianet Group Inc, is a carrier-neutral Internet data center services provider. The Company hosts its customers’ servers and networking equipment and provides interconnectivity. The Company also provides managed network services to enable customers to deliver data across the Internet through its data transmission network and smart routing technology. The Company provides value-added services, such as content delivery network services, virtual private network services and last-mile wired broadband services. It offers public cloud services, private cloud and hybrid services. The Company also offers container-based data center service. The Company’s service offerings include hosting and related services, and managed network services. The Company provides hosting and related services to house servers and networking equipment in its data centers and connects them through its data transmission network, and offers other hosting related value-added services.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy’s tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy’s criteria.
| BOOK/MARKET RATIO: | PASS |
| RETURN ON ASSETS: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN RETURN ON ASSETS: | PASS |
| CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS: | PASS |
| CASH COMPARED TO NET INCOME: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN LONG TERM DEBT/ASSETS | FAIL |
| CHANGE IN CURRENT RATIO: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN SHARES OUTSTANDING: | FAIL |
| CHANGE IN GROSS MARGIN: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN ASSET TURNOVER: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of VNET GROUP INC – ADR
About Joseph Piotroski: Piotroski isn’t your typical Wall Street big shot. In fact, he’s not even a professional investor. He’s a good old numbers-crunching accountant and college professor. But in 2000, shortly after he started teaching at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business, Piotroski published a groundbreaking paper in the Journal of Accounting Research entitled “Value Investing: The Use of Historical Financial Statement Information to Separate Winners from Losers”. In it, Piotroski laid out an accounting-based stock-selection/shorting method that produced a 23 percent average annual back-tested return from 1976 through 1996 — more than double the S&P 500’s gain during that time. Piotroski’s findings were reported in major financial publiations like SmartMoney. Today, he teaches accounting at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
