I evaluated 14 different companies this week to determine whether they are suitable for Defensive Investors, those unwilling to do substantial research, or Enterprising Investors, those who are willing to do such research. I also put each company through the ModernGraham valuation model based on Benjamin Graham’s value investing formulas in order to determine an intrinsic value for each. Out of those 14 companies, only 5 were found to be undervalued or fairly valued and suitable for either Defensive or Enterprising Investors. Therefore, these 5 companies are the best undervalued stocks of the week.
The Elite
The following companies were found to be suitable for either the Defensive Investor or Enterprising Investor and undervalued:
AFLAC Inc (AFL)
AFLAC Incorporated qualifies for both the Defensive Investor and the Enterprising Investor. In fact, the company meets all of the requirements of both investor types, a rare accomplishment indicative of the company’s strong financial position. The Enterprising Investor has no initial concerns. As a result, all value investors following the ModernGraham approach should feel comfortable proceeding with the analysis.
As for a valuation, the company appears to be Undervalued after growing its EPSmg (normalized earnings) from $4.72 in 2012 to an estimated $6.27 for 2016. This level of demonstrated earnings growth outpaces the market’s implied estimate of 1.58% annual earnings growth over the next 7-10 years. As a result, the ModernGraham valuation model, based on Benjamin Graham’s formula, returns an estimate of intrinsic value above the price.
At the time of valuation, further research into AFLAC Incorporated revealed the company was trading below its Graham Number of $87.87. The company pays a dividend of $1.62 per share, for a yield of 2.2%, putting it among the best dividend paying stocks today. Its PEmg (price over earnings per share – ModernGraham) was 11.66, which was below the industry average of 16.56, which by some methods of valuation makes it one of the most undervalued stocks in its industry.  (See the full valuation)
