Stock Valuation: RWE AG (RWE)

Name of Company Country of Origin/ Exchange Traded Sector Stock Price
RWE AG Germany/
XTER
Utilities – Utilities – Regulated – Utilities – Diversified EUR17.32
@ 13 Oct 2018
COMPANY PROFILE RWE AG is a supplier of electricity and natural gas in Europe. The segments of the company are lignite and nuclear, european power, innogy, and supply and trading. The company generates majority of its revenue from lignite and nuclear.

RWE, including its stake in Innogy, is one of Europe’s five largest utilities, with vertically integrated generation, transmission, and distribution operations serving 16 million electric customers and 8 million gas customers. It also owns and operates power generation and supply in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands and renewable energy assets in Europe. About half of its profits are earned in Germany.

Stock Code RWE
Stock Valuation Below

RWE Price to Book

Price to Earnings, Price to Sales and Price to Cash Flow ratios all value a company based on what it is generating (i.e. profits, sales or cash flow). Price to Book ratio is different in that it values a company based on what it owns (i.e. its net assets). This is usually a suitable valuation indicator for a financial institution, which frequently revalues its assets and liabilities, or a company with huge asset base e.g. utilities company.
At the price of EUR17.32 as at 13 Oct 2018, Rwe Ag is trading at a Price to Book Ratio of 1.5 times current book value.  This is a 7.0% discount to current fair Price to Book Ratio of 1.6 times.
Is the stock undervalued? 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: Company description, historical financial statements data and price data are from gurufocus.com or moneycontrol.com. Estimates are from marketscreener.com – Thomson Reuters.
Disclaimer: This report is for information purposes only and should not be considered a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Neither ProThinker nor any other party guarantees its accuracy or makes warranties regarding results from its usage. Redistribution is prohibited without the express written consent of ProThinker. Copyright(c) 2018. All rights reserved.