How Does Investing In TransGlobe Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:TGA) Impact The Volatility Of Your Portfolio?

If you're interested in TransGlobe Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:TGA), then you might want to consider its beta (a measure of share price volatility) in order to understand how the stock could impact your portfolio. Modern finance theory considers volatility to be a measure of risk, and there are two main types of price volatility. First, we have company specific volatility, which is the price gyrations of an individual stock. Holding at least 8 stocks can reduce this kind of risk across a portfolio. The second sort is caused by the natural volatility of markets, overall. For example, certain macroeconomic events will impact (virtually) all stocks on the market.

Some stocks see their prices move in concert with the market. Others tend towards stronger, gentler or unrelated price movements. Beta can be a useful tool to understand how much a stock is influenced by market risk (volatility). However, Warren Buffett said 'volatility is far from synonymous with risk' in his 2014 letter to investors. So, while useful, beta is not the only metric to consider. To use beta as an investor, you must first understand that the overall market has a beta of one. A stock with a beta greater than one is more sensitive to broader market movements than a stock with a beta of less than one.

View our latest analysis for TransGlobe Energy

What TGA's beta value tells investors

Looking at the last five years, TransGlobe Energy has a beta of 1.11. The fact that this is well above 1 indicates that its share price movements have shown sensitivity to overall market volatility. Based on this history, investors should be aware that TransGlobe Energy are likely to rise strongly in times of greed, but sell off in times of fear. Beta is worth considering, but it's also important to consider whether TransGlobe Energy is growing earnings and revenue. You can take a look for yourself, below.

Could TGA's size cause it to be more volatile?

With a market capitalisation of US$136m, TransGlobe Energy is a very small company by global standards. It is quite likely to be unknown to most investors. It takes less money to influence the share price of a very small company. This may explain the excess volatility implied by this beta value.

What this means for you:

Since TransGlobe Energy has a reasonably high beta, it's worth considering why it is so heavily influenced by broader market sentiment. For example, it might be a high growth stock or have a lot of operating leverage in its business model. In order to fully understand whether TGA is a good investment for you, we also need to consider important company-specific fundamentals such as TransGlobe Energy’s financial health and performance track record. I urge you to continue your research by taking a look at the following:

1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for TGA’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for TGA’s outlook.
2. Past Track Record: Has TGA been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of TGA's historicals for more clarity.
3. Other Interesting Stocks: It's worth checking to see how TGA measures up against other companies on valuation. You could start with this free list of prospective options.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.