Yahoo Finance Should You Be Adding SSE (LON:SSE) To Your Watchlist Today?
Investors are often guided by the idea of discovering 'the next big thing', even if that means buying 'story stocks' without any revenue, let alone profit. Unfortunately, these high risk investments often have little probability of ever paying off, and many investors pay a price to learn their lesson. While a well funded company may sustain losses for years, it will need to generate a profit eventually, or else investors will move on and the company will wither away.
Despite being in the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, many investors still adopt a more traditional strategy; buying shares in profitable companies like SSE (LON:SSE). Now this is not to say that the company presents the best investment opportunity around, but profitability is a key component to success in business.
Check out our latest analysis for SSE
How Quickly Is SSE Increasing Earnings Per Share?
If a company can keep growing earnings per share (EPS) long enough, its share price should eventually follow. Therefore, there are plenty of investors who like to buy shares in companies that are growing EPS. Impressively, SSE has grown EPS by 25% per year, compound, in the last three years. If growth like this continues on into the future, then shareholders will have plenty to smile about.
It's often helpful to take a look at earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins, as well as revenue growth, to get another take on the quality of the company's growth. The good news is that SSE is growing revenues, and EBIT margins improved by 12.8 percentage points to 39%, over the last year. Ticking those two boxes is a good sign of growth, in our book.
You can take a look at the company's revenue and earnings growth trend, in the chart below. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.
Of course the knack is to find stocks that have their best days in the future, not in the past. You could base your opinion on past performance, of course, but you may also want to check this interactive graph of professional analyst EPS forecasts for SSE.
Are SSE Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?
Investors are always searching for a vote of confidence in the companies they hold and insider buying is one of the key indicators for optimism on the market. Because often, the purchase of stock is a sign that the buyer views it as undervalued. However, insiders are sometimes wrong, and we don't know the exact thinking behind their acquisitions.
The good news for SSE shareholders is that no insiders reported selling shares in the last year. With that in mind, it's heartening that Angela R. Strank, the Independent Non-Executive Director of the company, paid UK£8.9k for shares at around UK£18.49 each. It seems that at least one insider is prepared to show the market there is potential within SSE.
The good news, alongside the insider buying, for SSE bulls is that insiders (collectively) have a meaningful investment in the stock. To be specific, they have UK£12m worth of shares. That shows significant buy-in, and may indicate conviction in the business strategy. While their ownership only accounts for 0.07%, this is still a considerable amount at stake to encourage the business to maintain a strategy that will deliver value to shareholders.
Shareholders have more to smile about than just insiders adding more shares to their already sizeable holdings. The cherry on top is that the CEO, Alistair Phillips-Davies is paid comparatively modestly to CEOs at similar sized companies. The median total compensation for CEOs of companies similar in size to SSE, with market caps over UK£6.7b, is around UK£4.4m.
SSE offered total compensation worth UK£3.0m to its CEO in the year to March 2021. That seems pretty reasonable, especially given it's below the median for similar sized companies. While the level of CEO compensation shouldn't be the biggest factor in how the company is viewed, modest remuneration is a positive, because it suggests that the board keeps shareholder interests in mind. Generally, arguments can be made that reasonable pay levels attest to good decision-making.
Does SSE Deserve A Spot On Your Watchlist?
You can't deny that SSE has grown its earnings per share at a very impressive rate. That's attractive. Better still, insiders own a large chunk of the company and one has even been buying more shares. These things considered, this is one stock worth watching. It is worth noting though that we have found 4 warning signs for SSE (2 shouldn't be ignored!) that you need to take into consideration.
There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. So if you like the sound of SSE, you'll probably love this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
