America's Car-Mart is currently trading at $80.05 per share and has a Graham number of $130.18, which implies that it is -38.5% below its fair value. We calculate the Graham number as follows:
√(22.5 * 5 year average earnings per share * book value per share) = √(22.5 * 9.69 * 77.73) = 130.18
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 America's Car-Mart, average sales revenue over the last 3 years has been $958.53 Million, 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 America's Car-Mart's current ratio by dividing its total current assets of $1.03 Billion by its total current liabilities of $27.67 Million. 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. In America's Car-Mart’s case, current assets outweigh current liabilities by a factor of 37.1.
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 America's Car-Mart’s debt ratio is 1.3, the company has too much debt. We calculate America's Car-Mart’s debt to net current assets ratio by dividing its total long term of debt of $440.66 Million by its current assets minus total liabilities of $675.95 Million.
The Stock Should Have a Positive Level of Retained Earnings Over Several Years
America's Car-Mart had positive retained earnings from 2011 to 2022 with an average of $356.44 Million. 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
We have no record of America's Car-Mart offering a regular dividend within the last twenty years.
A Minimum Increase of at Least One-third in Earnings per Share (EPS) Over the Past 10 Years
To determine America's Car-Mart's EPS growth over time, we will average out its EPS for 2010, 2011, and 2012, which were $2.27, $0.77, and $0.76 respectively. This gives us an average of $1.27 for the period of 2010 to 2012. Next, we compare this value with the average EPS reported in 2020, 2021, and 2022, which were $1.35, $14.95, and $13.67, for an average of $9.99. Now we see that America's Car-Mart's EPS growth was 686.61% during this period, which satisfies Ben Graham's requirement.
Based on the above analysis, we can conclude that America's Car-Mart 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 excellent current ratio
- too much debt
- positive retained earnings from 2011 to 2022
- no dividend record
- EPS growth in excess of Graham's requirements
