Thanks for the video links jg123456, much appreciated. I agree...

Thanks for the video links jg123456, much appreciated.

I agree with you, FID do tick many boxes and look to have a favourable long term outlook with more financial planners being added to their network and with the CEO about to transition to Chair. (I have a medium size holding in FID). As you note, they are vulnerable to general market downturns, but also what happens when their managed funds underperform benchmarks (even for a short period) which has to happen at some stage. I'm witnessing fund outflows at PPT in these circumstances despite current buoyant markets, and it's hard to grow earnings in this scenario. I also find it hard to ascertain how much organic growth FID are generating?

Madamswer "I don't sense that any of the stocks that you listed in your post can be described as being remotely close to undervalued at present."
That's true at present. It's the old conundrum isn't it! I have found myself re-balancing the portfolio and trimming some positions - so where to deploy this cash with an eye on value?

But on the other hand, as hcosah commented "opportunities can crop up unexpectedly" and we've seen this in some quality companies in recent months. For example;
* Wilson exited NCK and the stock was sold off as much as 20% in the middle of last year.
* HSN were impacted by currency in their FY2017 result and the stock was sold off over 15% in September last year. (similarly this was the case for WLL in FY2017; referred to previously by hcosah)
Perhaps this still does not bring these stocks into deep value territory, but in the absence of a broader market correction it may be the best we can hope for!

I guess the point being that at some stage many companies face a temporary hurdle, and if you remain extremely vigilant you can take advantage of the market's foolish shortsightedness. Quality companies have a tendency to bounce back pretty quickly from setbacks - in my experience.

Back to SNL. I won't argue here that the stock is undervalued on a relative basis (ie.P/E or EV/EBITDA), but based on a discounted dividend valuation it does have some appeal. I personally value it slightly above the current price, and thanks to management's very conservative 2H2018 guidance (as illustrated by Madamswer), I would't be surprised to see a market price $3.00-$3.20 in the months ahead. I'm watching and happy to add more in that situation!