Abbott Laboratories Valuation – February 2019 $ABT

Company Profile (excerpt from Reuters): Abbott Laboratories, incorporated on March 6, 1900, is engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and sale of a range of healthcare products. The Company operates through four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products and Vascular Products. The Company, through St. Jude Medical, Inc., also offers a range of products, such as rhythm management products, electrophysiology products, heart failure related products, vascular products, structural heart products and neuromodulation products.

 

Downloadable PDF version of this valuation:

ModernGraham Valuation of ABT – February 2019

Stage 1: Is this company suitable for the Defensive Investor or the Enterprising Investor?

What kind of Intelligent Investor are you?

Defensive Investor; must pass 6 out of the following 7 tests.
1. Adequate Size of the Enterprise Market Cap > $2Bil $136,723,618,367 Pass
2. Sufficiently Strong Financial Condition Current Ratio > 2 1.62 Fail
3. Earnings Stability Positive EPS for 10 years prior Pass
4. Dividend Record Dividend Payments for 10 years prior Pass
5. Earnings Growth Increase of 33% in EPS in past 10 years using 3 year averages at beginning and end -50.67% Fail
6. Moderate PEmg Ratio PEmg < 20 43.49 Fail
7. Moderate Price to Assets PB Ratio < 2.5 OR PB*PEmg < 50 4.49 Fail
Enterprising Investor; must pass 4 out of the following 5 tests, or be suitable for the Defensive Investor.
1. Sufficiently Strong Financial Condition Current Ratio > 1.5 1.62 Pass
2. Sufficiently Strong Financial Condition Debt to NCA < 1.1 3.44 Fail
3. Earnings Stability Positive EPS for 5 years prior Pass
4. Dividend Record Currently Pays Dividend Pass
5. Earnings Growth EPSmg greater than 5 years ago Fail

 

Stage 2: Determination of Intrinsic Value

EPSmg $1.79
MG Growth Estimate -3.78%
MG Value $1.68
Opinion Overvalued
MG Grade D
MG Value based on 3% Growth $25.94
MG Value based on 0% Growth $15.20
Market Implied Growth Rate 17.50%
Current Price $77.79
% of Intrinsic Value 4629.78%

Abbott Laboratories does not satisfy the requirements of either the Enterprising Investor or the more conservative Defensive Investor. The Defensive Investor is concerned with the low current ratio, insufficient earnings growth over the last ten years, and the high PEmg and PB ratios. The Enterprising Investor has concerns regarding the level of debt relative to the net current assets, and the lack of earnings growth over the last five years. As a result, all value investors following the ModernGraham approach should explore other opportunities at this time or proceed cautiously with a speculative attitude.

As for a valuation, the company appears to be Overvalued after seeing its EPSmg (normalized earnings) decline from $2.39 in 2015 to an estimated $1.79 for 2019. This level of demonstrated earnings growth does not support the market’s implied estimate of 17.5% annual earnings growth over the next 7-10 years. As a result, the ModernGraham valuation model, based on the Benjamin Graham value investing formula, returns an estimate of intrinsic value below the price.

At the time of valuation, further research into Abbott Laboratories revealed the company was trading above its Graham Number of $35.26. The company pays a dividend of $1.12 per share, for a yield of 1.4% Its PEmg (price over earnings per share – ModernGraham) was 43.49, which was below the industry average of 51.18, which by some methods of valuation makes it one of the most undervalued stocks in its industry. Finally, the company was trading above its Net Current Asset Value (NCAV) of $-12.3.

Abbott Laboratories scores quite poorly in the ModernGraham grading system, with an overall grade of D.

Stage 3: Information for Further Research

Net Current Asset Value (NCAV) -$12.30
Graham Number $35.26
PEmg 43.49
Current Ratio 1.62
PB Ratio 4.49
Current Dividend $1.12
Dividend Yield 1.44%
Number of Consecutive Years of Dividend Growth 5

Useful Links:

ModernGraham tagged articles Morningstar
Google Finance MSN Money
Yahoo Finance Seeking Alpha
GuruFocus SEC Filings

Most Recent Balance Sheet Figures

Balance Sheet Information 12/1/2018
Total Current Assets $14,632,000,000
Total Current Liabilities $9,012,000,000
Long-Term Debt $19,359,000,000
Total Assets $67,173,000,000
Intangible Assets $42,196,000,000
Total Liabilities $36,451,000,000
Shares Outstanding (Diluted Average) 1,773,870,000

Earnings Per Share History

EPS History
Next Fiscal Year Estimate $3.18
Dec2018 $1.33
Dec2017 $0.27
Dec2016 $0.94
Dec2015 $2.92
Dec2014 $1.49
Dec2013 $1.62
Dec2012 $3.72
Dec2011 $3.01
Dec2010 $2.96
Dec2009 $3.69
Dec2008 $3.12
Dec2007 $2.31
Dec2006 $1.12
Dec2005 $2.16
Dec2004 $2.06
Dec2003 $1.75
Dec2002 $1.78
Dec2001 $0.99
Dec2000 $1.78
Dec1999 $1.57

Earnings Per Share – ModernGraham History

EPSmg History
Next Fiscal Year Estimate $1.79
Dec2018 $1.19
Dec2017 $1.23
Dec2016 $1.85
Dec2015 $2.39
Dec2014 $2.27
Dec2013 $2.77
Dec2012 $3.33
Dec2011 $3.10
Dec2010 $2.98
Dec2009 $2.82
Dec2008 $2.31
Dec2007 $1.89
Dec2006 $1.71
Dec2005 $1.92
Dec2004 $1.76
Dec2003 $1.60

Recommended Reading:

Other ModernGraham posts about the company

10 Most Overvalued Stocks of the S&P 500 – July 2018
Abbott Laboratories Valuation – May 2018 $ABT
Abbott Laboratories Valuation – January 2017 $ABT
Abbott Laboratories Valuation – August 2016 $ABT
5 Speculative and Overvalued Companies to Avoid – March 2015

Other ModernGraham posts about related companies

Becton Dickinson and Co Valuation – February 2019 $BDX
IQVIA Holdings Inc Valuation – February 2019 $IQV
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc Valuation – February 2019 $TMO
Illumina Inc Valuation – February 2019 $ILMN
Waters Corp Valuation – February 2019 $WAT
Cerner Corp Valuation – February 2019 $CERN
HCA Healthcare Inc Valuation – February 2019 $HCA
Stryker Corp Valuation – February 2019 $SYK
Align Technology Inc Valuation – February 2019 $ALGN
Quest Diagnostics Inc Valuation – February 2019 $DGX

Disclaimer:

The author did not hold a position in any company mentioned in this article at the time of publication and had no intention of changing that position within the next 72 hours.  See my current holdings here.  This article is not investment advice; any reader should speak to a registered investment adviser prior to making any investment decisions.  ModernGraham is not affiliated with the company in any manner.  Please be sure to review our detailed disclaimer.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.