General Motors Company is currently trading at $34.7 per share and has a Graham number of $73.85, which implies that it is -53.0% below its fair value. We calculate the Graham number as follows:
√(22.5 * earnings per share * book value per share) = √(22.5 * 5.91 * 46.62) = 73.85
The Graham number is one of seven factors that Graham enumerates in Chapter 14 of The Intelligent Investor for determining whether a stock offers a margin of safety. Rather than use the Graham number by itself, its best to consider it alongside the following fundamental metrics:
Sales Revenue Should Be No Less Than $500 million
For General Motors Company, average sales revenue over the last 3 years has been $128,908,666,667, so in the context of the Graham analysis the stock has impressive sales revenue. Originally the threshold was $100 million, but since the book was published in the 1970s it's necessary to adjust the figure for inflation.
Current Assets Should Be at Least Twice Current Liabilities
We calculate General Motors Company's current ratio by dividing its total current assets of $82,103,000,000 by its total current liabilities of $74,408,000,000. Current assets refer to company assets that can be transferred into cash within one year, such as accounts receivable, inventory, and liquid financial instruments. Current liabilities, on the other hand, refer to those that will come due within one year. General Motors Company’s current assets outweigh its current liabilities by a factor of 1.1 only.
The Company’s Long-term Debt Should Not Exceed its Net Current Assets
This means that its ratio of debt to net current assets should be 1 or less. Since General Motors Company’s debt ratio is 9.8, the company has too much debt. We calculate General Motors Company’s debt to net current assets ratio by dividing its total long term of debt of $75,659,000,000 by its current assets minus total current liabilities.
The Stock Should Have a Positive Level of Retained Earnings Over Several Years
General Motors Company had positive retained earnings from 2010 to 2021, during which time they averaged $33,586,333,333. Retained earnings are the sum of the current and previous reporting periods' net asset amounts, minus all dividend payments. It's a similar metric to free cash flow, with the difference that retained earnings are accounted for on an accrual basis.
There Should Be a Record of Uninterrupted Dividend Payments Over the Last 20 Years
General Motors Company has offered a regular dividend since at least 2014. The company has returned a 1.1% dividend yield over the last 12 months.
A Minimum Increase of at Least One-third in Earnings per Share (EPS) Over the Past 10 Years
To determine General Motors Company's EPS growth over time, we will average out its EPS for 2010, 2011, and 2012, which were $0.31, $4.58, and $0.54 respectively. This gives us an average of $1.81 for the period of 2010 to 2012. Next, we compare this value with the average EPS reported in 2019, 2020, and 2021, which were $4.57, $4.33, and $6.70, for an average of $5.20. Now we see that General Motors Company's EPS growth was 187.29% during this period, which satisfies Ben Graham's requirement.
Based on the above analysis, we can conclude that General Motors Company meets most of Benjamin Graham's criteria for an undervalued stock because it is trading far below its fair value and has:
- impressive sales revenue
- an average current ratio
- too much debt
- positive retained earnings from 2010 to 2021
- a decent dividend record
- Eps growth in excess of Graham's requirements
