Home Technology Tejon Ranch Co. ($TRC) Appears Cheap on Comp Basis

Tejon Ranch Co. ($TRC) Appears Cheap on Comp Basis

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We are excited to announce that each day (Monday-Friday) we will be posting at least one unique article about a stock, using analysis from a pure value perspective. In the past, most of our value content has  been syndicated. We hope to post even more than once a day. They will not be long write ups (for that we suggest you check out ValueWalk Premium), but will be a short analysis for readers who want a starting point for stock ideas.

Tejon Ranch Co. ($TRC) Appears Cheap on Comp Basis

Below is our first write up.

 

Tejon Ranch Co. (TRC)

Business:

Tejon Ranch Co. (TRC: NYSE) is a diversified real estate development and agri-business company based in US. The major segments of the company operation involve commercial/industrial real estate development, resort /residential real estate development and farming.

Stock Info:

As of 12th September 2012, the company’s shares traded at $29.30 with an average volume of approximately 52,000 shares over the last three months. During the past 1 year the stock has traded between  $22.8 to $31.64. Compared to other property management companies of similar size, the company has been trading at a significantly low P/E ratio as shown below (high p/e is mainly due to the abnormally lower net income recently):

Property Management Companies

Company

Symbol

Price($)

MarketCap(Mln)

P/E

 Tejon Ranch Co.

TRC

30.2

606.75M

73.7

 Hansteen Holdings ORD

HSTN.L

78.6

501.8M

3,740.5

 Daejan Holdings plc

DJAN.L

2,904.0

473.21M

1,316.4

 Grainger Plc

GRI.L

102.3

417.82M

17,050.0

 Savills plc

SVS.L

409.0

507.97M

1,985.4

 Source : Yahoo Finance

Financial Performance:

 

Top line Although the topline of the company decreased from $28.5 Million in 1HFY11 to $17.4 Million in 1HFY12 which represents a decline of 39%; however, a deeper look into the segmental revenue reveals that the revenues have mainly declined as a result of the decrease in income from resort/residential segment revenue. Revenues for commercial/industrial segment have increased significantly rising from 9.3 million in 1HFY11 to $12.3 million in 1HFY12 primarily due to increase of oil lease and royalty payments. Farming revenue also increased compared to 1HFY11 primarily due to increase in pistachio revenues related to the sale of 2011 crop pistachios during 2012 and also due to the positive price adjustment factor in pistachio prices.

 

Bottom line 

The Earnings per share (EPS) of the company declined from $0.41 in 1HFY11 to $0.02 in 2HFY12.  Apart from the decrease in revenue, another factor contributing to the decline in net income attributable to common shareholders was the increase in operating expense of  % driven by higher compensation costs which was mainly related to timing of staff hiring in early 2012 and the recognition of additional staff compensation costs. Therefore although the bottom line decreased significantly during 1HFY12 compared to 1HFY11, the situation is not all that gloomy..

 

Strong Financial Health:

As at 30th June’ 2012, the total equity capital of the company was approximately $303 million with debt accounting for less than 1% of the company’s capital. This translates to a book value per share of 13.10. The company also has cash & cash equivalents of 74.78 million as at 30th June’ 2012; which translates to a cash value of $3.73 per share.

 

Outlook:

The outlook for Tejon Ranch Co. looks strong and we think value investors should look into the stock further based on the following factors:

  • One of the key planned residential resort development is no longer subject to legal challenge related environmental laws.
  • Tejon Ranch Co. has entered into a letter of intent with The Rockfeller Group to partner in the development of The Outlets at Tejon Ranch, a premier outlet that is being planned for one of California’s biggest highways. Infrastructure work at the sight has already begun and the companies are targeting a spring 2014 opening date.
  • The strong capital structure of the company provides a solid foundation for future growth and will help the company in achieving successful closure of its real estate projects which require a lengthy process to complete the entitlement and development phases before revenue can begin to be recognized.

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Sheeraz Raza
Editor

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