Evaluating Potential Stock Investments

There are numerous factors to take into account when evaluating a potential stock investment opportunity. Investors should do proper research on every aspect of the stock market. Relevant ratios (such as ROE, P/E, etc.) need to be interpreted and specially looked in detail. You should know how to apply fundamental analysis to evaluate potential investments for both growth and value.

Some of the most important aspects that must be considered include:

1) Return on equity (ROE): It is a basic measure of a firm's profitability. This ratio indicates how well a company uses investment funds to generate earnings growth. The higher the ROE, the more efficient the firm was in utilizing invested equity capital.

2) Earnings per share (EPS): This is calculated by dividing the profit attributable to shareholders by the total number of equity shares. You should look for company with long term steady growth in EPS.

3) Price/earnings (P/E) ratio: This is derived by dividing the market price with the most recent earnings of a particular stock. You should compare the P/E ratios of one company to other companies in the same industry. The faster a company is growing, the higher the P/E ratio.

4) Price/Earnings To Growth (PEG) ratio: This is a valuation metric for determining the stock's value while taking into account earnings growth. It is a great tool for investors to quickly scan for high-growth stocks at a fair price. The lower the PEG ratio, the more undervalued the company share is.

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Author

Kelvin Wong Loke Yuen is a highly experienced education writer. He has obtained many certifications from the UK, USA, Australia and Canada, including an MBA and a Postgraduate Diploma from Heriot-Watt (UK's World-Class University) and a BCom degree from Adelaide (Australia’s Group of Eight University). Follow him on: LinkedIn