Making the Grade? K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN) Investor Update as Price to Cash Hits 10.186967

Here we will take a look into some valuation metrics for K12 Inc. NYSE:LRN shares.

K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN) has a Price to Book ratio of 2.183104. This ratio is calculated by dividing the current share price by the book value per share. Investors may use Price to Book to display how the market portrays the value of a stock. Checking in on some other ratios, the company has a Price to Cash Flow ratio of 10.186967, and a current Price to Earnings ratio of 34.837613. The P/E ratio is one of the most common ratios used for figuring out whether a company is overvalued or undervalued.

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In taking a look at some additional key numbers, K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN) has a current ERP5 Rank of 6897. The ERP5 Rank may assist investors with spotting companies that are undervalued. This ranking uses four ratios. These ratios are Earnings Yield, ROIC, Price to Book, and 5 year average ROIC. When looking at the ERP5 ranking, it is generally considered the lower the value, the better.

The Gross Margin Score is calculated by looking at the Gross Margin and the overall stability of the company over the course of 8 years.  The score is a number between one and one hundred (1 being best and 100 being the worst).  The Gross Margin Score of K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN) is 5.00000.  The more stable the company, the lower the score.  If a company is less stable over the course of time, they will have a higher score.

K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN) currently has a Montier C-score of 1.00000. This indicator was developed by James Montier in an attempt to identify firms that were fixing the books in order to appear better on paper. The score ranges from zero to six where a 0 would indicate no evidence of book cooking, and a 6 would indicate a high likelihood. A C-score of -1 would indicate that there is not enough information available to calculate the score. Montier used six inputs in the calculation. These inputs included a growing difference between net income and cash flow from operations, increasing receivable days, growing day’s sales of inventory, increasing other current assets, decrease in depreciation relative to gross property plant and equipment, and high total asset growth.

K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN) has an M-score Beneish of -3.026192. This M-score model was developed by Messod Beneish in order to detect manipulation of financial statements. The score uses a combination of eight different variables. The specifics of the variables and formula can be found in the Beneish paper “The Detection of Earnings Manipulation”.

Individual investors often have a lot to deal with when surveying the stock market landscape. Choosing stocks based on recent performance may not work out as well as planned. Stocks that were winners last year, last month, or even last week, may not be winners next week, next month, or next year. Digging into the fundamentals can help the investor see what stocks are set up for future success. Taking multiple approaches when viewing a certain security may help the investor put the puzzle together and see the bigger picture. Staying current on economic data can also help the investor obtain a broader sense of what is driving present market conditions.

The Value Composite One (VC1) is a method that investors use to determine a company’s value.  The VC1 of K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN) is 44.  A company with a value of 0 is thought to be an undervalued company, while a company with a value of 100 is considered an overvalued company.  The VC1 is calculated using the price to book value, price to sales, EBITDA to EV, price to cash flow, and price to earnings.  Similarly, the Value Composite Two (VC2) is calculated with the same ratios, but adds the Shareholder Yield.  The Value Composite Two of K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN) is 37.

At the time of writing, K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN) has a Piotroski F-Score of 6. The F-Score may help discover companies with strengthening balance sheets. The score may also be used to spot the weak performers. Joseph Piotroski developed the F-Score which employs nine different variables based on the company financial statement. A single point is assigned to each test that a stock passes. Typically, a stock scoring an 8 or 9 would be seen as strong. On the other end, a stock with a score from 0-2 would be viewed as weak.

Valuation

K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN) presently has a current ratio of 3.50. The current ratio, also known as the working capital ratio, is a liquidity ratio that displays the proportion of current assets of a business relative to the current liabilities. The ratio is simply calculated by dividing current liabilities by current assets. The ratio may be used to provide an idea of the ability of a certain company to pay back its liabilities with assets. Typically, the higher the current ratio the better, as the company may be more capable of paying back its obligations.

The Earnings to Price yield of K12 Inc. NYSE:LRN is 0.028705.  This is calculated by taking the earnings per share and dividing it by the last closing share price.  This is one of the most popular methods investors use to evaluate a company’s financial performance.  Earnings Yield is calculated by taking the operating income or earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) and dividing it by the Enterprise Value of the company.  The Earnings Yield for K12 Inc. NYSE:LRN is 0.044811.  Earnings Yield helps investors measure the return on investment for a given company.  Similarly, the Earnings Yield Five Year Average is the five year average operating income or EBIT divided by the current enterprise value.  The Earnings Yield Five Year average for K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN) is 0.027039.

Free Cash Flow Growth (FCF Growth) is the free cash flow of the current year minus the free cash flow from the previous year, divided by last year’s free cash flow.  The FCF Growth of K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN) is 0.098523.  Free cash flow (FCF) is the cash produced by the company minus capital expenditure.  This cash is what a company uses to meet its financial obligations, such as making payments on debt or to pay out dividends.  The Free Cash Flow Score (FCF Score) is a helpful tool in calculating the free cash flow growth with free cash flow stability – this gives investors the overall quality of the free cash flow.  The FCF Score of K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN) is 0.715994.  Experts say the higher the value, the better, as it means that the free cash flow is high, or the variability of free cash flow is low or both.

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Volatility

Stock volatility is a percentage that indicates whether a stock is a desirable purchase. Investors look at the Volatility 12m to determine if a company has a low volatility percentage or not over the course of a year. The Volatility 12m of K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN) is 36.721100. This is calculated by taking weekly log normal returns and standard deviation of the share price over one year annualized. The lower the number, a company is thought to have low volatility. The Volatility 3m is a similar percentage determined by the daily log normal returns and standard deviation of the share price over 3 months. The Volatility 3m of K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN) is 35.020600. The Volatility 6m is the same, except measured over the course of six months. The Volatility 6m is 40.233700.

Investors who are new to picking stocks may find themselves tempted to buy shares that have been recently rising the most. Although the traditional advice is to buy low and sell high, novice investors often do just the opposite. Buying a particular stock just because it has been rising recently may end up leaving the investor shaking their head down the road. Expecting that a stock will continue to ride the wave higher can lead to disappointment when momentum suddenly shifts. Studying the fundamentals of a certain company can help the investor gauge if the stock is a worthy buy at current levels.