10 Companies Benjamin Graham Would Invest In Today – August 2015

Out of the multitude of companies, which ones would legendary value investor Benjamin Graham buy today?  I've compiled ten great companies that fit the ModernGraham criteria, based on Benjamin Graham's methods. The companies in this list pass the rigorous requirements of either the Defensive Investor or the Enterprising Investor and are undervalued by the market. To find more companies that meet these tests, be sure to check out the ModernGraham Valuation Index.

Here are the ten companies Benjamin Graham would invest in today:

Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR)

Denbury Resources Inc. qualifies for the Enterprising Investor but not the more conservative Defensive Investor.  The Defensive Investor is concerned with the company size, insufficient earnings growth or stability over the last ten years along with the short dividend history.  The Enterprising Investor is concerned with the level of relative to the net current assets.  As a result, all Enterprising Investors following the ModernGraham approach based on Benjamin Graham's methods should feel comfortable proceeding with the evaluation.

As for a valuation, the company appears to be undervalued after growing its EPSmg (normalized earnings) from $0.88 in 2011 to an estimated $1.05 for 2015.  This level of demonstrated earnings growth surpasses the market's implied estimate of 2.58% annual earnings decline over the next 7-10 years.  As a result, the ModernGraham valuation model, based on Benjamin Graham's formula, returns an estimate of intrinsic value above the price.  (See the full valuation)

Ford Motor Company (F)

Ford Motor Company performs well in the ModernGraham model and is suitable for Enterprising Investors. The Defensive Investor is concerned with the inconsistent dividend record and the lack of earnings stability over the last ten years, while the Enterprising Investor has no initial concerns. As a result, Enterprising Investors should feel very comfortable proceeding to the next part of the analysis, which is a determination of the company's intrinsic value.

When it comes to valuation, it is critical to consider the company's earnings history. In this case, the company has grown its EPSmg (normalized earnings) from $1.30 in 2011 to an estimated $1.55 for 2015. Even though this is not a very high level of growth, it is well above the market's implied estimate of only 0.69% annual earnings growth over the next 7-10 years.

Here, actual growth in EPSmg over the last several years has averaged 3.8% annually, so the market is expecting a very significant drop in earnings growth. The ModernGraham valuation model reduces the historical growth to a more conservative figure, assuming that some slowdown will occur, but still estimates a growth figure much higher than the market's implied rate. Therefore, the model returns an estimate of intrinsic value well above the current price, indicating the company is significantly undervalued at the present time.  (See the full valuation)

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