March 21, 2024
Top 10 Stock Snam Buy Recommendation
How to read the ranks
For every stock, we judge its performance against its peers and rank it on a scale of 1 to 100. The higher the rank, the better the stock performs than its peers. And, we do this for six investment strategies:
Value - shows how good of a value the stock is. Green is "inexpensive"; red is "expensive".
Growth - shows a company's growth potential. Green is "high growth" expected; red is "tough times ahead".
Safety - relates to the amount of debt a company has. Green is low debt level; red is high debt level.
Combined Financial - this isn't an average of the first three ranks but rather a consolidated view across several financial indicators. Green = good; red = tread carefully.
(NEW) Sentiment - quantifies professional analyst ratings and holdings as well as market pulse. Green = positive sentiment; red = skepticism (Only available to Premium Subscribers).
(NEW) 360° View - the ultimate rating with all financial and non-financial indicators.
Snapshot: Snam – Top 10 Stock in Milano Italia Borsa Index MIB
Snam is listed as a top 10 stock on March 21, 2024 in the market index MIB because of its high performance in at least one of the Obermatt investment strategies. Two consolidated Obermatt Ranks are above-average. The company is safely financed and the professional investor sentiment is positive. Both are encouraging signals for a stock purchase decision, albeit at an above-average share price. Based on the Obermatt 360° View of 72 (high 72% performer), Obermatt assesses an overall buy recommendation for Snam on March 21, 2024.
Snapshot: Obermatt Ranks
| Country | Italy |
| Industry | Gas Utilities |
| Index | MIB, Customer Focus EU, Dividends Europe, Employee Focus EU, Energy Efficient |
| Size class | X-Large |
When Obermatt identifies the Top 10 stocks in a market, it’s based on a certain investment strategy. The best performing stocks usually aren’t the ones that everyone is talking about (those are often "over-priced" and have low Value ranks).
For each investment strategy, we provide you with more detailed analysis and our recommendation. You see the ranks of the top 10 stocks ranked by that particular investment strategy (360° View, Sentiment, Value, Growth, Safety and Combined Financial Performance).
360° View: Obermatt 360° View Snam Buy
| 360 METRICS | March 21, 2024 | |||||||
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| VALUE | ||||||||
| VALUE | 42 |
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| GROWTH | ||||||||
| GROWTH | 23 |
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| SAFETY | ||||||||
| SAFETY | 53 |
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| SENTIMENT | ||||||||
| SENTIMENT | 56 |
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| 360° VIEW | ||||||||
| 360° VIEW | 72 |
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ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt 360° View of 72 (better than 72% compared with alternatives), overall professional sentiment and financial characteristics for the stock Snam are above average. The 360° View is based on consolidating four consolidated indicators, with half below and half above average for Snam. The consolidated Sentiment Rank has a good rank of 56, which means that professional investors are more optimistic about the stock than for 56% of alternative investment opportunities. It also rates well regarding its financing structure, with the consolidated Safety Rank at 53 or better than 53% of its peers when looking at the amount of its debt, its refinancing requirements, and its ability to service debt. But the stock is expensive and expects low growth. The consolidated Value Rank is only 42, meaning that the share price of Snam is on the high side, compared with indicators such as revenues, profits, and invested capital. The company exhibits below-average growth momentum when looking at financial metrics such as revenue, profit, invested capital growth,and stock returns, with its Growth Rank at 23. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated 360° View of 72, Snam is better positioned than 72% of all alternative stock investment opportunities based on the Obermatt Method. As only half of the consolidated Obermatt Ranks exhibit excellent performance, namely the positive professional market sentiment (Sentiment Rank of 56) and safe financing practices (Safety Rank of 53), the case for investing in this stock needs further thought. The Value and the Safety Ranks are below average. The Safety Rank is the least critical of the four consolidated ranks, because it only reflects financing practices. So the question is: How to assess below-average value against above-average sentiment? This may be a case where growth is in the future, not yet reflected in current performance. Companies that might fall into this category are those with intellectual property, such as technology and pharmaceutical companies. In early phases, they are expensive relative to their size and have a lot of capital on their books, as is the case here. Investors expect a better future and are willing to pay a higher price than is warranted by the current company size. These higher prices drive stock price value down in the short term. In this case, future growth may be the strongest driver of the investment case, reflected by institutional investors' opinions. With a weak Value Rank, the question is how much to sacrifice value at the cost of positive sentiment. Sometimes market sentiment is just hype, but sometimes it is right. You pay more than market-average for this stock, but it may be worth it, if the future of Snaṃ is bright. Prudent investors may only want to invest a smaller portion of their wealth in such situations. Young investors can carry more risk but should still thrive for sufficient diversification. ...read more
Sentiment Strategy: Professional Market Sentiment for Snam positive
ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Sentiment Rank of 56 (better than 56% compared with alternatives), overall professional sentiment and engagement for the stock Snam is above average. The Sentiment Rank is based on consolidating four sentiment indicators, with all but one indicator above average for Snam. Analyst Opinions are at a rank of 35 (worse than 65% of alternative investments), which means that currently, stock research analysts tend to warn against investing in the stock of the company. But they are changing their opinions! Analyst Opinions Change has a rank of 54, which indicates a shift in stock research experts opinions for the better. In other words, they are getting more optimistic about stock investments in Snam. Even better, the Professional Investors rank is 50, meaning that professional investors hold more stock in this company than in 50% of alternative investment opportunities. Pros tend to favor investing in this company. Furthermore, Market Pulse has a rank of 75, which means that the current professional news and professional social networks are upbeat when discussing this company (more positive news than for 75% of competitors). ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated Sentiment Rank of 56 (more positive than 56% compared with investment alternatives), Snam has a reputation among professional investors that is above-average compared with that of its competitors. While analysts are still critical of the company, some are changing their minds. In addition, the professional news channels are optimistic, and many institutional investors have already bought stock in the company. These are encouraging signals, despite the still lower level of analyst recommendations. They may be due to a problematic past, and about to change. The positive sentiment signals are stronger than the negative. ...read more
Value Strategy: Snam Stock Price Value below-average critical
ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Value Rank of 42 (worse than 58% compared with alternatives), Snam shares are more expensive than the average comparable stock. The Value Rank is based on consolidating four value indicators, with half of the indicators below and half above average for Snam. Price-to-Profit (also referred to as price-earnings, P/E) is 64 which means that the stock price compared with what market professionals expect for future profits is lower than for 64% of comparable companies, indicating a good value concerning Snam's profit levels. The same is valid for Price-to-Book Capital (also referred to as market-to-book ratio) with a Price-to-Book Rank of 35, which means that the stock price is lower as regards to invested capital than for 35% of comparable investments. On the other hand, Price-to-Sales is less favorable than 76% of alternatives (only 24% of peers have an even less favorable ratio). The same is valid for dividend yield, which is lower than 24% of comparable companies, making the stock more expensive as regards to the company's expected dividend payouts. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: The overall picture with a consolidated Value Rank of 42, is a hold recommendation based on Snam's stock price compared with the company's operational size and dividend yields. This is a puzzling picture, because it means that profits are high while dividends are low. Since the stock price is low compared with invested capital but high in respect to expected revenues, it means that the company has more invested capital than peers for generating the same amount of revenue. Since profits are higher, it could be a "cash cow" situation (using the classic Boston Consulting BCG matrix naming convention) where the company is on a downward trend, still living from the profits of past products. As the company pays low dividends, it may harbor the opinion that a turnaround is possible, and it rather invests the cash than pay it out to shareholders, thus sealing the company's fate early. Any investment optimism should only be a buy trigger once thorough research is completed. ...read more
Growth Strategy: Snam Growth Momentum negative
ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Growth Rank of 23 (better than 23% compared with alternatives), Snam shows one of the most restricted growth dynamics in its industry. There is little momentum in this company. The Growth Rank is based on consolidating four value indicators, with three out of four indicators below-average for Snam. While Sales Growth ranks at 70, professionals currently expect the company to grow more than 70% of its competitors, while all other growth ranks are below the market median. Profit Growth has a rank of 48, which means that, currently, professionals expect the company to grow its profits less than 52% of its competitors, and Capital Growth has a low rank of 4. Historic stock returns were also below average with a current Stock Returns rank of 48 which means that the stock returns have recently been below 52% of alternative investments. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: The overall picture with a consolidated Growth Rank of 23, is a sell recommendation for growth and momentum investors. If revenues are expected to increase, but all other growth indicators are negative, the company may be investing in future growth through means not visible in the balance sheet and thus not reflected in capital growth. The fact that Stock Returns have been below market doesn't mean that much, as it may be due to overly optimistic investor behavior in the past, which has been corrected to a more reasonable level recently. If that were the case, a positive Value Rank would be a reason to invest because the company is still expected to grow, while stock prices are now at a more reasonable level. ...read more
Safety Strategy: Snam Debt Financing Safety above-average
| SAFETY METRICS | March 21, 2024 | |||||||
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| LEVERAGE | ||||||||
| LEVERAGE | 39 |
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| REFINANCING | ||||||||
| REFINANCING | 17 |
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| LIQUIDITY | ||||||||
| LIQUIDITY | 24 |
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| CONSOLIDATED RANK: SAFETY | ||||||||
| CONSOLIDATED RANK: SAFETY | 53 |
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ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Safety Rank of 53 (better than 53% compared with alternatives), the company Snam has financing practices on the safer side, which mean that their overall debt burden is lower than average. This doesn't mean that the business of Snam is safe, it only means that the company is on the safer side regarding possible bankruptcy, assuming that public reporting is correct. The Safety Rank is based on consolidating three financing indicators, with all three metrics below average for Snam. Liquidity is at 24, meaning that the company generates less profit to service its debt than 76% of its competitors. This indicates that the company is on the riskier side when it comes to debt service. Even worse, Leverage is at a rank of 39, meaning the company has an above-average debt-to-equity ratio. It has more debt than 61% of its competitors. Finally, Refinancing is at a rank of 17 which means that the portion of the debt about to be refinanced is above average. It has more debt in the refinancing stage than 83% of its competitors. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated Safety Rank of 53 (better than 53% compared with alternatives), Snam has a financing structure that is safer than that of its competitors. This combination is rather dangerous in most situations. Only very promising companies with bright future outlooks and stellar reputations can operate with such risky financing.
Combined financial peformance: Snam Above-Average Financial Performance
| COMBINED PERFORMANCE | March 21, 2024 | |||||||
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| VALUE | ||||||||
| VALUE | 42 |
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| GROWTH | ||||||||
| GROWTH | 23 |
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| SAFETY | ||||||||
| SAFETY | 24 |
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| COMBINED | ||||||||
| COMBINED | 67 |
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ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Combined Rank of 67 (better than 67% compared with investment alternatives), Snam (Gas Utilities, Italy) shares have above-average financial characteristics compared with similar stocks. Shares of Snam are low in value (priced high) with a consolidated Value Rank of 42 (worse than 58% of alternatives) and show below-average growth (Growth Rank of 23) but are safely financed (Safety Rank of 53), which means low debt burdens. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: A Combined Rank of 67, is a buy recommendation based on Snam's financial characteristics. As the company Snam's critical financial metrics exhibit below-average performance, such as low value (Obermatt Value Rank of 42) and low growth (Obermatt Growth Rank of 23), it is a somewhat questionable stock investment, where the risk of paying too much for the shares is significant, unless the company has an exceptionally bright future. In this case, good financing practices (Obermatt Safety Rank of 53) are a positive sign, because it may allow the company to weather challenging times until the hoped-for cash flows materialize. This may be true for high-tech or biotechnology companies with enough cash to sustain prolonged business development. If they own properties that only provide cash flows in the future, the stock may look excessively expensive and unattractive today. In such cases, the Obermatt Method has limited value, as it is based on facts we can observe today. If the facts lie all in the future, stock investing becomes guesswork, and this should only be a driver in a limited number of investments that account for a small fraction of a safe portfolio. ...read more
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