If you’re interested in John Bean Technologies Corporation (NYSE:JBT), then you might want to consider its beta (a measure of share price volatility) in order to understand how the stock could impact your portfolio. Volatility is considered to be a measure of risk in modern finance theory. Investors may think of volatility as falling into two main categories. First, we have company specific volatility, which is the price gyrations of an individual stock. Holding at least 8 stocks can reduce this kind of risk across a portfolio. The other type, which cannot be diversified away, is the volatility of the entire market. Every stock in the market is exposed to this volatility, which is linked to the fact that stocks prices are correlated in an efficient market.
Some stocks are more sensitive to general market forces than others. Some investors use beta as a measure of how much a certain stock is impacted by market risk (volatility). While we should keep in mind that Warren Buffett has cautioned that ‘Volatility is far from synonymous with risk’, beta is still a useful factor to consider. To make good use of it you must first know that the beta of the overall market is one. A stock with a beta greater than one is more sensitive to broader market movements than a stock with a beta of less than one.
Check out our latest analysis for John Bean Technologies
What we can learn from JBT’s beta value
Given that it has a beta of 1.56, we can surmise that the John Bean Technologies share price has been fairly sensitive to market volatility (over the last 5 years). Based on this history, investors should be aware that John Bean Technologies are likely to rise strongly in times of greed, but sell off in times of fear. Share price volatility is well worth considering, but most long term investors consider the history of revenue and earnings growth to be more important. Take a look at how John Bean Technologies fares in that regard, below.
How does JBT’s size impact its beta?
With a market capitalisation of US$2.4b, John Bean Technologies is a pretty big company, even by global standards. It is quite likely well known to very many investors. It takes a lot of money to influence the share price of large companies like this one. That makes it interesting to note that its share price has a history of sensitivity to market volatility. There might be some aspect of the business that means profits are leveraged to the economic cycle.
What this means for you:
Beta only tells us that the John Bean Technologies share price is sensitive to broader market movements. This could indicate that it is a high growth company, or is heavily influenced by sentiment because it is speculative. Alternatively, it could have operating leverage in its business model. Ultimately, beta is an interesting metric, but there’s plenty more to learn. In order to fully understand whether JBT is a good investment for you, we also need to consider important company-specific fundamentals such as John Bean Technologies’s financial health and performance track record. I highly recommend you dive deeper by considering the following:
- Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for JBT’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for JBT’s outlook.
- Past Track Record: Has JBT been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of JBT’s historicals for more clarity.
- Other Interesting Stocks: It’s worth checking to see how JBT measures up against other companies on valuation. You could start with this free list of prospective options.
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