Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK), The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Gross Margin Score in the Spotlight

Here we will take a look at the Gross Margin Score of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) shares. The equity currently has a score of 14.00000. This score is derived from the Gross Margin (Marx) stability and growth over the previous eight years. The Gross Margin score lands on a scale from 1 to 100 where a score of 1 would be considered positive, and a score of 100 would be seen as negative.  The low score of 14.00000 for Alaska Air Group, Inc. indicates a top score for stability and growth.

Checking in on some valuation rankings, Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) has a Value Composite score of 17. Developed by James O’Shaughnessy, the VC score uses five valuation ratios. These ratios are price to earnings, price to cash flow, EBITDA to EV, price to book value, and price to sales. The VC is displayed as a number between 1 and 100. In general, a company with a score closer to 0 would be seen as undervalued, and a score closer to 100 would indicate an overvalued company. Adding a sixth ratio, shareholder yield, we can view the Value Composite 2 score which is currently sitting at 16.

In trying to determine the current valuation of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) shares, we note that the Book to Market ratio of the shares stands at 0.387626. It’s commonly accepted that a Book to Market ratio greater than one indicates that the shares might be undervalued.  The book to market ratio has some limitations in certain industries however where intangible assets (such as knowledge) often are not represented on a balance sheet. The ratio is calculated by dividing the market price per share by book value per share.  

At the time of writing, Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) has a Piotroski F-Score of 4. 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.

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) has a current ERP5 Rank of 2298 . 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.

Ever wonder how investors predict positive share price momentum?  The Cross SMA 50/200, also known as the “Golden Cross” is the fifty day moving average divided by the two hundred day moving average.  The SMA 50/200 for Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) is currently 0.81486.  If the Golden Cross is greater than 1, then the 50 day moving average is above the 200 day moving average – indicating a positive share price momentum.  If the Golden Cross is less than 1, then the 50 day moving average is below the 200 day moving average, indicating that the price might drop.

The Leverage Ratio of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) is 0.277909.  Leverage ratio is the total debt of a company divided by total assets of the current and past year divided by two.  Companies take on debt to finance their day to day operations.  The leverage ratio can measure how much of a company’s capital comes from debt.  With this ratio, investors can better estimate how well a company will be able to pay their long and short term financial obligations.

ROA & ROIC

There are many different tools to determine whether a company is profitable or not.  One of the most popular ratios is the “Return on Assets” (aka ROA).  This score indicates how profitable a company is relative to its total assets.  The Return on Assets for Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) is 0.089091.  This number is calculated by dividing net income after tax by the company’s total assets.  A company that manages their assets well will have a higher return, while a company that manages their assets poorly will have a lower return.

The Return on Invested Capital (aka ROIC) for Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) is 0.234046.  The Return on Invested Capital is a ratio that determines whether a company is profitable or not.  It tells investors how well a company is turning their capital into profits.  The ROIC is calculated by dividing the net operating profit (or EBIT) by the employed capital.  The employed capital is calculated by subrating current liabilities from total assets.  Similarly, the Return on Invested Capital Quality ratio is a tool in evaluating the quality of a company’s ROIC over the course of five years.  The ROIC Quality of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) is 5.261899.  This is calculated by dividing the five year average ROIC by the Standard Deviation of the 5 year ROIC.  The ROIC 5 year average is calculated using the five year average EBIT, five year average (net working capital and net fixed assets).  The ROIC 5 year average of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) is 0.188477.

Investors having The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) on their watchlists might want to take into consideration the Gross Margin Score of the firm. The Western Union Company currently has a score of 10.00000. This score is derived from the Gross Margin (Marx) stability and growth over the previous eight years. The Gross Margin score lands on a scale from 1 to 100 where a score of 1 would be considered positive, and a score of 100 would be seen as negative.  The low score of 10.00000 for The Western Union Company indicates a top score for stability and growth.

The Piotroski F-Score is a scoring system between 1-9 that determines a firm’s financial strength.  The score helps determine if a company’s stock is valuable or not.  The Piotroski F-Score of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) is 5.  A score of nine indicates a high value stock, while a score of one indicates a low value stock.  The score is calculated by the return on assets (ROA), Cash flow return on assets (CFROA), change in return of assets, and quality of earnings.  It is also calculated by a change in gearing or leverage, liquidity, and change in shares in issue.  The score is also determined by change in gross margin and change in asset turnover.

Turning to valuation, The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) has a Value Composite score of 47. Developed by James O’Shaughnessy, the VC score uses five valuation ratios. These ratios are price to earnings, price to cash flow, EBITDA to EV, price to book value, and price to sales. The VC is displayed as a number between 1 and 100. In general, a company with a score closer to 0 would be seen as undervalued, and a score closer to 100 would indicate an overvalued company. Adding a sixth ratio, shareholder yield, we can view the Value Composite 2 score which is currently sitting at 36.

At the time of writing, The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) has a Piotroski F-Score of 5. 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.

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) has a current ERP5 Rank of 4759 . 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.

Shifting gears, we can see that The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) has a Q.i. Value of 19.00000. The Q.i. Value ranks companies using four ratios. These ratios consist of EBITDA Yield, FCF Yield, Liquidity, and Earnings Yield. The purpose of the Q.i. Value is to help identify companies that are the most undervalued. Typically, the lower the value, the more undervalued the company tends to be.

PI & 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 The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) is 16.269700.  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 The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) is 16.135500.  The Volatility 6m is the same, except measured over the course of six months.  The Volatility 6m is 15.133100.

We can now take a quick look at some historical stock price index data. The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) presently has a 10 month price index of 1.02423. The price index is calculated by dividing the current share price by the share price ten months ago. A ratio over one indicates an increase in share price over the period. A ratio lower than one shows that the price has decreased over that time period. Looking at some alternate time periods, the 12 month price index is 0.93502, the 24 month is 1.16213, and the 36 month is 1.19391. Narrowing in a bit closer, the 5 month price index is 1.04507, the 3 month is 1.04301, and the 1 month is currently 1.00432.

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