Equity Markets, Valuation, and Analysis. H. Kent Baker
valuation is known as comparables or comps valuation and can be based on the type of business, transaction, or industry averages. The key element of the approach is to find a value-based characteristic relative to the value of the business.
Other valuation methods. Additional valuation techniques include residual income valuation, which focuses on excess income above the costs measured relative to the equity used, and technical analysis, which values a firm or stock using the data from trading activities, including price and volume changes.
Equity investment models and strategies also play an important role in investing activities and their success. An investor may choose active investing and try to time the market with an objective of short-term gains. A passive investor may choose to invest for the long term by tracking an index. This strategy reduces the risk through diversification. Furthermore, investors can strategically focus on certain types of stocks. For example, one may choose to invest in stocks whose earnings are expected to grow faster than others (growth strategy) or may look for undervalued stocks that are expected to increase in value (value strategy).
Equity markets also accommodate special cases of investing, including activist investing and socially responsible investing, as well as investing in emerging markets, private equity, and crowdfunding investments. For example, activist investors invest in companies to influence their activities through pressuring management with specific agenda items such as changing the compensation plans, forcing the firm to merge or divest certain assets, and changing a company's product lines. Socially responsible investing involves applying nonfinancial social screens to a universe of investment alternatives to identify investment candidates. A social screen is the expression of an investor's social, ethical, or religious concern in a form that enables an investment manager to apply it in the investment decision-making process, along with other screens.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
This section discusses the book's purpose, its distinguishing features, and its intended audience.
Purpose of the Book
The primary purpose of this book is to provide an objective look into the dynamic world of equity markets, valuation, and analysis. The coverage extends from discussing basic concepts and their application to increasingly intricate and real-world situations. This volume spans the gamut from theoretical to practical while attempting to offer a useful balance of detailed and user-friendly coverage. Discussion of relevant research permeates the books. Readers can gain an in-depth understanding about this subject from experts in the field, both academics and practitioners. Readers interested in a broad survey will benefit as will those looking for more in-depth presentations of specific areas within this field of study. In summary, this book provides a fresh look at this intriguing but often complex subject.
Distinguishing Features
Several features distinguish Equity Markets, Valuation, and Analysis from others in the market.
The book provides an introduction to this broad, complex, and competitive field. It skillfully blends the contributions of a global array of academics and practitioners into a single review of some of the most important topics in this area. The varied backgrounds of the contributors assure different perspectives and a rich interplay of ideas. The book also reflects the latest trends and research in a global context and discusses several controversial issues as well as the future outlook for this field.
While retaining the content and perspectives of the many contributors, the book follows an internally consistent approach in format and style. Similar to a choir that contains many voices, this book has many contributing authors, each with their separate voices. A goal of both a choir and this book is to have the many voices sing together harmoniously. Accomplishing this task for the book requires skilled editing by the co-editors to assure a seamless flow when moving from chapter to chapter. Hence, the book is collectively much more than a compilation of chapters from an array of different authors.
The book presents theory without unnecessary abstraction, quantitative techniques using basic mathematics, and conventions at a useful level of detail. It also incorporates how investment professionals analyze and manage equity portfolios.
The book places a strong emphasis on empirical evidence involving equity markets, valuation, and analysis. When discussing the results of various studies, the objective is to distill them to their essential content and practical implications so they are understandable to a wide array of readers.
The end of each chapter contains four to six discussion questions that help to reinforce key concepts. The end of the book provides guideline answers to each question. This feature should be especially important to faculty and students using the book in classes.
Intended Audience
Given its broad scope, this practical and comprehensive book should be of interest to various groups. The primary market consists of academics, researchers, investors, and financial professionals/practitioners. Students, policymakers, libraries, and anyone curious about equity markets, valuation, and analysis make up the secondary market. For academics and researchers, the book provides the basis for gaining a better understanding of various aspects of equity markets, valuation, and analysis and as a springboard for future research. Academics can also use the book as a stand-alone or supplementary resource for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses in investments as well as a PhD seminar, given the book's research orientation. Investors, financial professionals, and practitioners should also find the book to be a valuable resource in gaining a better understanding of equity markets, valuation, and analysis. Students, policymakers, and libraries should find this book suitable as a reference. Thus, this book should be essential reading for anyone who wants a better understanding of these important topics.
STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK
The remainder of this book consists of 23 chapters divided into four main parts. A brief synopsis of each part and chapter follows.
Part One: Background
This part contains four chapters (Chapters 2–5) that provide important background information that sets the stage for the remaining sections. These chapters examine ownership structure and stock classes, equity markets and performance, securities regulation, and investor psychology and equity market anomalies.
Chapter 2 Ownership Structure and Stock Classes (Christopher J. Barnes, Ehsan Nikbakht, and Andrew C. Spieler) This chapter examines different ownership structures and stock classes. Several exceptions are available to the widely held belief that a share of common stock is the same as any other share. The most common exception is multiple-class common stock (dual-class stock), which offers some shareholders superior voting rights relative to shareholders in a separate class. Even for companies with only a single class of common stock, several types of shares may be available. For example, investors in tracking stock have no direct claim, as their investment targets the financial performance of a subdivision of a larger corporation. Cross-listings and depositary receipts each facilitate investment in corporations whose primary listings are in other countries. Although cross-listings represent a direct listing on a foreign stock exchange, depositary receipts are indirect ownership vehicles in which an intermediary institution holds shares directly and offers receipts certifying ownership for the investor. Another single-class ownership structure is that of dual-listed companies, which may arise when two companies combine business operations without merging the respective legal entities. This structure enables two separate and distinct classes of shares, and therefore shareholders, to survive the merger. These dual-listed companies try to equalize ownership such that a share of one twin equals a share in the other, but each twin's shares correspond to different underlying legal entities. Each of these structures falls under the umbrella of common stock but exemplifies