Valuing companies is a lot more complex than looking at one...

Valuing companies is a lot more complex than looking at one valuation metric whether it is PE, NTA or book or share price.

For example, it is possible and I've seen it, companies have rising book values every year and then go into receivership. Timbercorp is a good example.

Accounting gives the perception of accuracy and security but it is incredibly subjective. Timbercorp, for example, was never close to insolvent....its just the banks demanded all their money back on one day.....very few companies could satisfy that request, Timbercorp could not and TGR could not in theory, but hey presto = insolvency

TGR does not infact create a lot more shares. They traditionally (not lately) underwrite dividends and there was a major capital raising at $3.80 before GFC

If you want to use book value, the intelligence is in what type of assets constitute book value. For example, market securities or real estate may be accounted at book value but be significantly more than book.....it works in reverse too.

Happy investing