Proto (TSE:4298) - Share price, News & Analysis

4298 fundamental analysis
Snowflake Score
Valuation	5/6
Future Growth	0/6
Past Performance	2/6
Financial Health	6/6
Dividends	4/6

4298 Stock Overview

Proto Corporation provides automobile-related information services on new and used cars, parts and supplies.

Rewards

Trading at 61.9% below our estimate of its fair value

Earnings have grown 33.1% per year over the past 5 years

Risk Analysis

Earnings are forecast to decline by an average of 4.6% per year for the next 3 years

Unstable dividend track record

Large one-off items impacting financial results

Proto Competitors

Recruit Holdings

TSE:6098

JP¥7.8t

Price History & Performance

Summary of all time highs, changes and price drops for Proto
Historical stock prices
Current Share Price	JP¥968.00
52 Week High	JP¥1,674.00
52 Week Low	JP¥925.00
Beta	0.85
1 Month Change	-6.38%
3 Month Change	-23.54%
1 Year Change	-21.24%
3 Year Change	4.03%
5 Year Change	26.37%
Change since IPO	265.86%

Shareholder Returns

	4298	JP Media	JP Market
7D	-8.1%	-4.1%	0.6%
1Y	-21.2%	-5.8%	-2.9%

Return vs Industry: 4298 underperformed the JP Media industry which returned -5.8% over the past year.

Return vs Market: 4298 underperformed the JP Market which returned -2.9% over the past year.

Price Volatility

Is 4298's price volatile compared to industry and market?
4298 volatility
4298 Average Weekly Movement	4.9%
Media Industry Average Movement	5.1%
Market Average Movement	4.6%
10% most volatile stocks in JP Market	9.2%
10% least volatile stocks in JP Market	2.5%

Stable Share Price: 4298 is not significantly more volatile than the rest of JP stocks over the past 3 months, typically moving +/- 5% a week.

Volatility Over Time: 4298's weekly volatility (5%) has been stable over the past year.

About the Company

Founded	Employees	CEO	Website
1977	1,283	Kenji Kamiya	https://www.proto-g.co.jp

Proto Corporation provides automobile-related information services on new and used cars, parts and supplies. The company was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Nagoya, Japan.

Proto Fundamentals Summary

How do Proto's earnings and revenue compare to its market cap?
4298 fundamental statistics
Market Cap	JP¥37.78b
Earnings (TTM)	JP¥5.88b
Revenue (TTM)	JP¥57.45b

6.6x

P/E Ratio

0.7x

P/S Ratio

Is 4298 overvalued?

See Fair Value and valuation analysis

Earnings & Revenue

Key profitability statistics from the latest earnings report
4298 income statement (TTM)
Revenue	JP¥57.45b
Cost of Revenue	JP¥32.82b
Gross Profit	JP¥24.63b
Other Expenses	JP¥18.75b
Earnings	JP¥5.88b

Last Reported Earnings

Mar 31, 2022

Next Earnings Date

May 23, 2022

Earnings per share (EPS)	146.29
Gross Margin	42.87%
Net Profit Margin	10.24%
Debt/Equity Ratio	7.4%

How did 4298 perform over the long term?

See historical performance and comparison

Dividends

3.6%

Current Dividend Yield

21%

Payout Ratio

Valuation

Is Proto undervalued compared to its fair value and its price relative to the market?

Valuation Score

5/6

Valuation Score 5/6

Below Fair Value
Significantly Below Fair Value
PE vs Industry
PE vs Market
PEG Ratio
PB vs Industry

>50%

Undervalued compared to fair value

Share Price vs. Fair Value

Below Fair Value: 4298 (¥968) is trading below our estimate of fair value (¥2537.49)

Significantly Below Fair Value: 4298 is trading below fair value by more than 20%.

Price To Earnings Ratio

PE vs Industry: 4298 is good value based on its PE Ratio (6.6x) compared to the JP Media industry average (13x).

PE vs Market: 4298 is good value based on its PE Ratio (6.6x) compared to the JP market (12.1x).

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

PEG Ratio: 4298's earnings are forecast to decline next year, so we can't calculate its PEG ratio.

Price to Book Ratio

PB vs Industry: 4298 is good value based on its PB Ratio (1x) compared to the JP Media industry average (1.5x).

Future Growth

How is Proto forecast to perform in the next 1 to 3 years based on estimates from 3 analysts?

Future Growth Score

0/6

Future Growth Score 0/6

Earnings vs Savings Rate
Earnings vs Market
High Growth Earnings
Revenue vs Market
High Growth Revenue
Future ROE

-4.6%

Forecasted annual earnings growth

Earnings and Revenue Growth Forecasts

Analyst Future Growth Forecasts

Earnings vs Savings Rate: 4298's earnings are forecast to decline over the next 3 years (-4.6% per year).

Earnings vs Market: 4298's earnings are forecast to decline over the next 3 years (-4.6% per year).

High Growth Earnings: 4298's earnings are forecast to decline over the next 3 years.

Revenue vs Market: 4298's revenue (0.9% per year) is forecast to grow slower than the JP market (4.1% per year).

High Growth Revenue: 4298's revenue (0.9% per year) is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.

Earnings per Share Growth Forecasts

Future Return on Equity

Future ROE: 4298's Return on Equity is forecast to be low in 3 years time (10.2%).

Past Performance

How has Proto performed over the past 5 years?

Past Performance Score

2/6

Past Performance Score 2/6

Quality Earnings
Growing Profit Margin
Earnings Trend
Accelerating Growth
Earnings vs Industry
High ROE

33.1%

Historical annual earnings growth

Earnings and Revenue History

Quality Earnings: 4298 has a large one-off gain of ¥2.5B impacting its March 31 2022 financial results.

Growing Profit Margin: 4298's current net profit margins (10.2%) are higher than last year (8.1%).

Past Earnings Growth Analysis

Earnings Trend: 4298's earnings have grown significantly by 33.1% per year over the past 5 years.

Accelerating Growth: 4298's earnings growth over the past year (21.2%) is below its 5-year average (33.1% per year).

Earnings vs Industry: 4298 earnings growth over the past year (21.2%) underperformed the Media industry 48.8%.

Return on Equity

High ROE: 4298's Return on Equity (14.6%) is considered low.

Financial Health

How is Proto's financial position?

Financial Health Score

6/6

Financial Health Score 6/6

Short Term Liabilities
Long Term Liabilities
Debt Level
Reducing Debt
Debt Coverage
Interest Coverage

Financial Position Analysis

Short Term Liabilities: 4298's short term assets (¥37.6B) exceed its short term liabilities (¥13.0B).

Long Term Liabilities: 4298's short term assets (¥37.6B) exceed its long term liabilities (¥1.1B).

Debt to Equity History and Analysis

Debt Level: 4298 has more cash than its total debt.

Reducing Debt: 4298's debt to equity ratio has reduced from 25.3% to 7.4% over the past 5 years.

Debt Coverage: 4298's debt is well covered by operating cash flow (184.6%).

Interest Coverage: 4298's interest payments on its debt are well covered by EBIT (2140.7x coverage).

Balance Sheet

Dividend

What is Proto current dividend yield, its reliability and sustainability?

Dividend Score

3/6

Dividend Score 3/6

Notable Dividend
High Dividend
Stable Dividend
Growing Dividend
Earnings Coverage
Future Dividend Coverage

3.62%

Current Dividend Yield

Dividend Yield vs Market

Notable Dividend: 4298's dividend (3.62%) is higher than the bottom 25% of dividend payers in the JP market (1.62%).

High Dividend: 4298's dividend (3.62%) is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the JP market (3.64%).

Stability and Growth of Payments

Stable Dividend: 4298's dividend payments have been volatile in the past 10 years.

Growing Dividend: 4298's dividend payments have increased over the past 10 years.

Earnings Payout to Shareholders

Earnings Coverage: With its low payout ratio (20.5%), 4298's dividend payments are well covered by earnings.

Cash Payout to Shareholders

Cash Flow Coverage: With its reasonably low cash payout ratio (31.2%), 4298's dividend payments are well covered by cash flows.

Next Steps

Explore strong dividend paying companies in the Media industry.

Management

How experienced are the management team and are they aligned to shareholders interests?

9.1yrs

Average management tenure

CEO

Kenji Kamiya (53 yo)

8.08yrs

Tenure

Kenji Kamiya has been President of Proto Corporation since April 2014. Kenji Kamiya served as Managing Director and Automobile-related Information Officer of Proto Corp. Kenji Kamiya served as President, T...

Leadership Team

Experienced Management: 4298's management team is seasoned and experienced (9.1 years average tenure).

Board Members

Experienced Board: 4298's board of directors are seasoned and experienced ( 17 years average tenure).

Ownership

Who are the major shareholders and have insiders been buying or selling?

Insider Trading Volume

Insider Buying: Insufficient data to determine if insiders have bought more shares than they have sold in the past 3 months.

Ownership Breakdown

Dilution of Shares: Shareholders have not been meaningfully diluted in the past year.

Data	Last Updated (UTC time)
Company Analysis	2022/05/18 00:00
End of Day Share Price	2022/05/18 00:00
Earnings	2022/03/31
Annual Earnings	2022/03/31