Stock Analysis

Is Now The Time To Put S.R. Accord (TLV:SRAC) On Your Watchlist?

TASE:SRAC
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For beginners, it can seem like a good idea (and an exciting prospect) to buy a company that tells a good story to investors, even if it completely lacks a track record of revenue and profit. But as Peter Lynch said in One Up On Wall Street, 'Long shots almost never pay off.'

So if you're like me, you might be more interested in profitable, growing companies, like S.R. Accord (TLV:SRAC). Even if the shares are fully valued today, most capitalists would recognize its profits as the demonstration of steady value generation. Conversely, a loss-making company is yet to prove itself with profit, and eventually the sweet milk of external capital may run sour.

View our latest analysis for S.R. Accord

How Fast Is S.R. Accord Growing?

The market is a voting machine in the short term, but a weighing machine in the long term, so share price follows earnings per share (EPS) eventually. That makes EPS growth an attractive quality for any company. As a tree reaches steadily for the sky, S.R. Accord's EPS has grown 34% each year, compound, over three years. If the company can sustain that sort of growth, we'd expect shareholders to come away winners.

Careful consideration of revenue growth and earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margins can help inform a view on the sustainability of the recent profit growth. I note that S.R. Accord's revenue from operations was lower than its revenue in the last twelve months, so that could distort my analysis of its margins. While we note S.R. Accord's EBIT margins were flat over the last year, revenue grew by a solid 23% to ₪112m. That's a real positive.

In the chart below, you can see how the company has grown earnings, and revenue, over time. For finer detail, click on the image.

earnings-and-revenue-history
TASE:SRAC Earnings and Revenue History May 10th 2022

Since S.R. Accord is no giant, with a market capitalization of ₪708m, so you should definitely check its cash and debt before getting too excited about its prospects.

Are S.R. Accord Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

Personally, I like to see high insider ownership of a company, since it suggests that it will be managed in the interests of shareholders. So we're pleased to report that S.R. Accord insiders own a meaningful share of the business. Indeed, with a collective holding of 62%, company insiders are in control and have plenty of capital behind the venture. This makes me think they will be incentivised to plan for the long term - something I like to see. In terms of absolute value, insiders have ₪442m invested in the business, using the current share price. That should be more than enough to keep them focussed on creating shareholder value!

It's good to see that insiders are invested in the company, but are remuneration levels reasonable? Well, based on the CEO pay, I'd say they are indeed. I discovered that the median total compensation for the CEOs of companies like S.R. Accord with market caps between ₪344m and ₪1.4b is about ₪1.8m.

S.R. Accord offered total compensation worth ₪1.1m to its CEO in the year to . That comes in below the average for similar sized companies, and seems pretty reasonable to me. While the level of CEO compensation isn't a huge factor in my view of the company, modest remuneration is a positive, because it suggests that the board keeps shareholder interests in mind. I'd also argue reasonable pay levels attest to good decision making more generally.

Does S.R. Accord Deserve A Spot On Your Watchlist?

Given my belief that share price follows earnings per share you can easily imagine how I feel about S.R. Accord's strong EPS growth. If you need more convincing beyond that EPS growth rate, don't forget about the reasonable remuneration and the high insider ownership. This may only be a fast rundown, but the takeaway for me is that S.R. Accord is worth keeping an eye on. We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 2 warning signs for S.R. Accord (1 can't be ignored!) that you need to be mindful of.

Of course, you can do well (sometimes) buying stocks that are not growing earnings and do not have insiders buying shares. But as a growth investor I always like to check out companies that do have those features. You can access a free list of them here.

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.