Stock Valuation: Ctrip.com International Ltd (CTRP)

Name of Company Country of Origin/ Exchange Traded Sector Stock Price
CTRIP.COM INTERNATIONAL LTD China/
NAS
Consumer Cyclical – Travel & Leisure – Leisure USD48.01
@ 29 Jun 2018
COMPANY PROFILE Ctrip.com International Ltd provides travel related services. Its areas of interest include reservation, transportation ticketing, packaged-tour, corporate travel management services, as well as Internet-related advertising.

Ctrip.com is the largest online travel agency in China. The company generates about 82% of sales by serving as a consolidator for hotel reservations and air ticketing transactions. The rest of Ctrip’s revenue comes from package tours and corporate travel. More than 80% of its sales come through websites and mobile platforms, while the rest come from call centres. The company was founded in 1999 and listed on the Nasdaq in December 2003.

GDR/ADR Code CTRP
Stock Valuation Below

Ctrip.com International Price to Cash Flow

Price to Cash Flow is an alternative method to value shares. This is because accounting profits can be subject to manipulation. Therefore, some investors prefer to value a company based on cash flows generated by the operating activities of the company. It also acts as a reality check to valuation measures such as Price to Earnings and Price to Sales. If a company generates high profits and sales but not operating cash flows, it could be heading for trouble because it is cash that pays the operating expenses. However, the Price to Cash Flow ratio of most firms are volatile and should not be used in isolation to determine the valuation of the stock.
At the price of USD48.01 as at 29 Jun 2018, Ctrip.Com International Ltd is trading at a Price to Cash Flow Ratio of 26.0 times last 12 months cash flow.  This is a 5.0% premium to its historical average Price to Cash Flow Ratio of 24.9 times.
Is the stock overvalued? One should not just look at one indicator to determine the fair value of a stock.
ProThinker believes in using a combination of valuation methods to decide whether a stock is over or undervalued? The five ratios we use are Price to Earnings, Price to Sales, Price to Cash Flow, Price to Book and Dividend Yield. We use multiple methods to value a stock because each has its benefits as well as shortcomings. Price to Earnings and Price to Cash Flow Ratios relate stock price to profitability but are meaningless when the comany has negative earnings or cash flows. Price to Sales Ratio is more stable because sales are never negative. However, this does not tell us whether the company is able to sell profitably. Price to Book Ratio gives us an indication as to how much we are paying for the company’s assets but it is not directly related to the company’s profitability. Dividend Yield cannot be used for companies that are paying little to no dividends.
While it is important to value stocks based on multiple valuation methods, this often leads to differing views on valuation. One indicator may suggest that a stock is overvalued while another suggest that it is undervalued. This does not help an investor who needs to make a definite decision whether to buy, hold or sell the stock. That is why we advocate the use of a Composite Valuation Indicator, which is derived from the best combination of the five indicators above. A Composite Valuation Indicator will give you ONE conclusion on whether a stock is under or over valued.
To find out more about our valuation methodology, click here. 
Source of Data: Charts are from ProThinker Stock Report. Company description, historical financial statements data and price data are from gurufocus.com. Estimates are from gurufocus and/or 4-traders.com – Thomson Reuters.
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