Relative valuation

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Relative valuation also called valuation using multiples is the notion of comparing the price of an asset to the market value of similar assets. In the field of securities investment, the idea has led to important practical tools, which could presumably spot pricing anomalies. These tools have subsequently become instrumental in enabling analysts and investors to make vital decisions on asset allocation.

In economics, valuation using multiples, or “relative valuation”, is a process that consists of:

Contents

Equities

In equities, the concept separates into two areas—one pertaining to individual equities and the other to indices.

Individual equities

The most common method for individual equities is based on comparing certain financial ratios or multiples, such as the price to book value, price to earnings, EV/EBITDA, etc., of the equity in question to those of its peers. This type of approach, which is popular as a strategic tool in the financial industry, is mainly statistical and based on historical data.

Financial ratio characteristic number

A financial ratio or accounting ratio is a relative magnitude of two selected numerical values taken from an enterprise's financial statements. Often used in accounting, there are many standard ratios used to try to evaluate the overall financial condition of a corporation or other organization. Financial ratios may be used by managers within a firm, by current and potential shareholders (owners) of a firm, and by a firm's creditors. Financial analysts use financial ratios to compare the strengths and weaknesses in various companies. If shares in a company are traded in a financial market, the market price of the shares is used in certain financial ratios.

The price-to-book ratio, or P/B ratio, is a financial ratio used to compare a company's current market price to its book value. It is also sometimes known as a Market-to-Book ratio. The calculation can be performed in two ways, but the result should be the same each way. In the first way, the company's market capitalization can be divided by the company's total book value from its balance sheet. The second way, using per-share values, is to divide the company's current share price by the book value per share.

Enterprise value/EBITDA is a popular valuation multiple used in the finance industry to measure the value of a company. It is the most widely used valuation multiple based on enterprise value and is often used in conjunction with, or as an alternative to, the P/E ratio to determine the fair market value of a company.

Equity indexes

For an equity index the above fails mainly because it is difficult to group indices into peer groups. Consequently, relative valuation here is generally carried out by comparing a national or industry stock index’s performance to the economic and market fundamentals of the related industry or country.

Those fundamentals may include GDP growth, interest rate and inflation forecasts, as well as earnings growth, among others. This style of comparison is popular among practising economists in their attempt to rationalise the connections between the equity markets and the economy.

National equity index are not fully relevant in this respect due to the proportion of multinational companies listed in most national stock markets.

Bonds

In valuing a bond, the bond in question will be priced relative to a benchmark, usually a Government bond. Here, the "required return" - technically the yield to maturity or YTM - on the bond is determined based on the bond's Credit rating relative to a government security with similar maturity. The better the quality of the bond, the smaller the spread between its YTM and the YTM of the benchmark. See Bond valuation# Relative price approach.

Bond valuation

Bond valuation is the determination of the fair price of a bond. As with any security or capital investment, the theoretical fair value of a bond is the present value of the stream of cash flows it is expected to generate. Hence, the value of a bond is obtained by discounting the bond's expected cash flows to the present using an appropriate discount rate. In practice, this discount rate is often determined by reference to similar instruments, provided that such instruments exist. Various related yield-measures are then calculated for the given price.

Bond (finance) instrument of indebtedness

In finance, a bond is an instrument of indebtedness of the bond issuer to the holders. The most common types of bonds include municipal bonds and corporate bonds.

Government bond bond issued by a national government

A government bond or sovereign bond is a bond issued by a national government, generally with a promise to pay periodic interest payments called coupon payments and to repay the face value on the maturity date. The aim of a government bond is to support government spending. Government bonds are usually denominated in the country's own currency, in which case the government cannot be forced to default, although it may choose to do so. If a government is close to default on its debt the media often refer to this as a sovereign debt crisis.

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Valuation (finance) process of estimating what something is worth, used in the finance industry

In finance, valuation is the process of determining the present value (PV) of an asset. Valuations can be done on assets or on liabilities. Valuations are needed for many reasons such as investment analysis, capital budgeting, merger and acquisition transactions, financial reporting, taxable events to determine the proper tax liability, and in litigation.

Yield to maturity the discount rate at which the sum of all future cash flows from a bond (coupons and principal) is equal to the price of the bond

The yield to maturity (YTM), book yield or redemption yield of a bond or other fixed-interest security, such as gilts, is the (theoretical) internal rate of return earned by an investor who buys the bond today at the market price, assuming that the bond is held until maturity, and that all coupon and principal payments are made on schedule. Yield to maturity is the discount rate at which the sum of all future cash flows from the bond is equal to the current price of the bond. The YTM is often given in terms of Annual Percentage Rate (A.P.R.), but more often market convention is followed. In a number of major markets the convention is to quote annualized yields with semi-annual compounding ; thus, for example, an annual effective yield of 10.25% would be quoted as 10.00%, because 1.05 × 1.05 = 1.1025 and 2 × 5 = 10.

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Bond market financial market where participants can issue new debt or buy and sell debt securities

Bond market in economic

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to finance:

Bond market index

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In finance, a dividend future is an exchange-traded derivative contract that allows investors to take positions on future dividend payments. Dividend futures can be on a single company, a basket of companies, or on an Equity index. They settle on the amount of dividend paid by the company, the basket of companies, or the index during the period of the contract.

Solactive

Solactive is a German provider of financial indices based in Frankfurt. The company develops, calculates and markets cost-efficient indices over several asset classes, e.g. Equity, Fixed-Income and Commodity indices. In addition, Solactive also engages in the development and branding of complex strategies not based on traditional underlyings, such as stocks and bonds, but on instruments like funds, life insurance products or basket of currencies.

References

R.D. Cohen (2005) "The Relative Valuation of an Equity Price Index" download, Chapt. 9 in Best of Wilmott, Vol. 2.

In computer networks, download means to receive data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar systems. This contrasts with uploading, where data is sent to a remote server. A download is a file offered for downloading or that has been downloaded, or the process of receiving such a file.

R.D. Cohen (2009) "Constructing a GDP-based Index for Use as Benchmark" download.

See also