Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of October 20, 2015

Article Excerpt

“You get what you pay for” is a worthwhile tidbit of investment advice. But to profit from it, you have to understand how to apply it. The adage should come to mind whenever you come across a stock that seems extraordinarily low-priced. For example, suppose you find a stock with a P/E (per-share price-to-earnings) ratio of, say, 6.0, at a time when seemingly comparable stocks are selling at P/Es of 12.0 or 15.0. The you-get-what-you-pay-for rule tells you there’s always a reason for an unusually low P/E—just as there is for an unusually high dividend yield. With doubts about earnings, this lower price shows up in a below-average P/E ratio. (The P/E is lower than average because “P” is the numerator or upper figure in the ratio.) With doubts about dividends, this lower price shows up in an above-average dividend yield. The formula for dividend yield is D..