Should You Be Adding Priti International (NSE:PRITI) To Your Watchlist Today?

Some have more dollars than sense, they say, so even companies that have no revenue, no profit, and a record of falling short, can easily find investors. But as Peter Lynch said in One Up On Wall Street, 'Long shots almost never pay off.'

In contrast to all that, I prefer to spend time on companies like Priti International (NSE:PRITI), which has not only revenues, but also profits. While profit is not necessarily a social good, it's easy to admire a business that can consistently produce it. Loss-making companies are always racing against time to reach financial sustainability, but time is often a friend of the profitable company, especially if it is growing.

View our latest analysis for Priti International

How Quickly Is Priti International Increasing Earnings Per Share?

If a company can keep growing earnings per share (EPS) long enough, its share price will eventually follow. Therefore, there are plenty of investors who like to buy shares in companies that are growing EPS. It certainly is nice to see that Priti International has managed to grow EPS by 27% per year 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. Priti International maintained stable EBIT margins over the last year, all while growing revenue 90% to ₹498m. That's a real positive.

The chart below shows how the company's bottom and top lines have progressed over time. For finer detail, click on the image.

Since Priti International is no giant, with a market capitalization of ₹704m, so you should definitely check its cash and debt before getting too excited about its prospects.

Are Priti International Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

Like the kids in the streets standing up for their beliefs, insider share purchases give me reason to believe in a brighter future. Because oftentimes, the purchase of stock is a sign that the buyer views it as undervalued. Of course, we can never be sure what insiders are thinking, we can only judge their actions.

We note that Priti International insiders spent ₹11m on stock, over the last year; in contrast, we didn't see any selling. That puts the company in a nice light, as it makes me think its leaders are feeling confident. Zooming in, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Chairman & Vigil Mechanism Officer Goverdhan Lohiya for ₹4.5m worth of shares, at about ₹70.16 per share.

On top of the insider buying, we can also see that Priti International insiders own a large chunk of the company. In fact, they own 96% of the company, so they will share in the same delights and challenges experienced by the ordinary shareholders. To me this is a good sign because it suggests they will be incentivised to build value for shareholders over the long term. Valued at only ₹704m Priti International is really small for a listed company. That means insiders only have ₹679m worth of shares, despite the large proportional holding. That's not a huge stake in absolute terms, but it should help keep insiders aligned with other shareholders.

While insiders already own a significant amount of shares, and they have been buying more, the good news for ordinary shareholders does not stop there. That's because on our analysis the CEO, Priti Lohiya, is paid less than the median for similar sized companies. For companies with market capitalizations under ₹15b, like Priti International, the median CEO pay is around ₹2.9m.

The Priti International CEO received total compensation of only ₹1.7m in the year to . This could be considered a token amount, and indicates that the company does not need to use payment to motivate the CEO - that is often a good sign. 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. It can also be a sign of a culture of integrity, in a broader sense.

Should You Add Priti International To Your Watchlist?

Given my belief that share price follows earnings per share you can easily imagine how I feel about Priti International's strong EPS growth. Not only that, but we can see that insiders both own a lot of, and are buying more, shares in the company. So I do think this is one stock worth watching. What about risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Priti International you should know about.

As a growth investor I do like to see insider buying. But Priti International isn't the only one. You can see a 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.