Here's Why I Think STEL Holdings (NSE:STEL) Is An Interesting Stock

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. And in their study titled Who Falls Prey to the Wolf of Wall Street?' Leuz et. al. found that it is 'quite common' for investors to lose money by buying into 'pump and dump' schemes.

In the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, my choice may seem old fashioned; I still prefer profitable companies like STEL Holdings (NSE:STEL). While that doesn't make the shares worth buying at any price, you can't deny that successful capitalism requires profit, eventually. In comparison, loss making companies act like a sponge for capital - but unlike such a sponge they do not always produce something when squeezed.

Check out our latest analysis for STEL Holdings

How Fast Is STEL Holdings Growing?

If a company can keep growing earnings per share (EPS) long enough, its share price will eventually follow. It's no surprise, then, that I like to invest in companies with EPS growth. Impressively, STEL Holdings has grown EPS by 32% per year, compound, in the last 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. While revenue is looking a bit flat, the good news is EBIT margins improved by 2.2 percentage points to 95%, in the last twelve months. That's a real positive.

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.

Since STEL Holdings is no giant, with a market capitalization of ₹1.5b, so you should definitely check its cash and debt before getting too excited about its prospects.

Are STEL Holdings Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

Like that fresh smell in the air when the rains are coming, insider buying fills me with optimistic anticipation. That's because insider buying often indicates that those closest to the company have confidence that the share price will perform well. Of course, we can never be sure what insiders are thinking, we can only judge their actions.

For the sake of balance, I do note STEL Holdings insiders sold -₹3.7m worth of shares last year. But this is outweighed by the Harsh Goenka who spent ₹12m buying shares, at an average price of around around ₹66.41.

It's reassuring that STEL Holdings insiders are buying the stock, but that's not the only reason to think management are fair to shareholders. I refer to the very reasonable level of CEO pay. I discovered that the median total compensation for the CEOs of companies like STEL Holdings with market caps under ₹15b is about ₹3.0m.

The STEL Holdings CEO received total compensation of only ₹120k in the year to . You could consider this pay as somewhat symbolic, which suggests the CEO does not need a lot of compensation to stay motivated. CEO compensation is hardly the most important aspect of a company to consider, but when its reasonable that does give me a little more confidence that leadership are looking out for shareholder interests. It can also be a sign of good governance, more generally.

Does STEL Holdings Deserve A Spot On Your Watchlist?

Given my belief that share price follows earnings per share you can easily imagine how I feel about STEL Holdings's strong EPS growth. But wait, it gets better. We have seen insider buying and the executive pay seems on the modest side of things. The message I'd take from this quick rundown is that, yes, this stock is worth investigating further. We should say that we've discovered 3 warning signs for STEL Holdings that you should be aware of before investing here.

As a growth investor I do like to see insider buying. But STEL Holdings 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. 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.
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