Is Now The Time To Put Five-Star Business Finance (NSE:FIVESTAR) On Your Watchlist?

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. Sometimes these stories can cloud the minds of investors, leading them to invest with their emotions rather than on the merit of good company fundamentals. Loss-making companies are always racing against time to reach financial sustainability, so investors in these companies may be taking on more risk than they should.

In contrast to all that, many investors prefer to focus on companies like Five-Star Business Finance (NSE:FIVESTAR), which has not only revenues, but also profits. 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.

View our latest analysis for Five-Star Business Finance

How Quickly Is Five-Star Business Finance Increasing Earnings Per Share?

Generally, companies experiencing growth in earnings per share (EPS) should see similar trends in share price. That makes EPS growth an attractive quality for any company. It certainly is nice to see that Five-Star Business Finance has managed to grow EPS by 23% per year over three years. As a general rule, we'd say that if a company can keep up that sort of growth, shareholders will be beaming.

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. It's noted that Five-Star Business Finance's revenue from operations was lower than its revenue in the last twelve months, so that could distort our analysis of its margins. Five-Star Business Finance maintained stable EBIT margins over the last year, all while growing revenue 37% to ₹14b. That's encouraging news for the company!

You can take a look at the company's revenue and earnings growth trend, in the chart below. For finer detail, click on the image.

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 Five-Star Business Finance.

Are Five-Star Business Finance Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

It's pleasing to see company leaders with putting their money on the line, so to speak, because it increases alignment of incentives between the people running the business, and its true owners. So it is good to see that Five-Star Business Finance insiders have a significant amount of capital invested in the stock. Indeed, they have a considerable amount of wealth invested in it, currently valued at ₹42b. This totals to 20% of shares in the company. Enough to lead management's decision making process down a path that brings the most benefit to shareholders. So there is opportunity here to invest in a company whose management have tangible incentives to deliver.

It means a lot to see insiders invested in the business, but shareholders may be wondering if remuneration policies are in their best interest. A brief analysis of the CEO compensation suggests they are. Our analysis has discovered that the median total compensation for the CEOs of companies like Five-Star Business Finance with market caps between ₹166b and ₹532b is about ₹47m.

Five-Star Business Finance offered total compensation worth ₹29m to its CEO in the year to March 2023. That comes in below the average for similar sized companies and seems pretty reasonable. CEO compensation is hardly the most important aspect of a company to consider, but when it's reasonable, that gives a little more confidence that leadership are looking out for shareholder interests. It can also be a sign of good governance, more generally.

Should You Add Five-Star Business Finance To Your Watchlist?

You can't deny that Five-Star Business Finance has grown its earnings per share at a very impressive rate. That's attractive. If you need more convincing beyond that EPS growth rate, don't forget about the reasonable remuneration and the high insider ownership. Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to investing but it definitely makes Five-Star Business Finance look rather interesting indeed. It is worth noting though that we have found 2 warning signs for Five-Star Business Finance that you need to take into consideration.

There's always the possibility of doing well buying stocks that are not growing earnings and do not have insiders buying shares. But for those who consider these important metrics, we encourage you 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.