Is WMS Industries' Stock Reasonable by the Numbers?

Numbers can lie -- but they're the best first step in determining whether a stock is a buy. In this series, we use some carefully chosen metrics to size up a stock's true value based on the following clues:

• The current price multiples

• The consistency of past earnings and cash flow

• How much growth we can expect

Let's see what those numbers can tell us about how expensive or cheap WMS Industries (NYS: WMS) might be.

The current price multiples
First, we'll look at most investors' favorite metric: the P/E ratio. It divides the company's share price by its earnings per share -- the lower, the better.

Then, we'll take things up a notch with a more advanced metric: enterprise value to unlevered free cash flow. This divides the company's enterprise value (basically, its market cap plus its debt, minus its cash) by its unlevered free cash flow (its free cash flow, adding back the interest payments on its debt). Like the P/E, the lower this number is, the better.

Analysts argue about which is more important -- earnings or cash flow. Who cares? A good buy ideally has low multiples on both.

WMS Industries has a P/E ratio of 17.7 and an EV/FCF ratio of 54.1 over the trailing 12 months. If we stretch and compare current valuations to the five-year averages for earnings and free cash flow, WMS Industries has a P/E ratio of 14.5 and a five-year EV/FCF ratio of 26.6.

A positive one-year ratio under 10 for both metrics is ideal (at least in my opinion). For a five-year metric, under 20 is ideal.

WMS Industries has a mixed performance in hitting the ideal targets, but let's see how it compares against some competitors and industry mates.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. NM = not meaningful due to losses.

Numerically, we've seen how WMS Industries's valuation rates on both an absolute and relative basis. Next, let's examine...

The consistency of past earnings and cash flow
An ideal company will be consistently strong in its earnings and cash flow generation.

In the past five years, WMS Industries' net income margin has ranged from 8.7% to 14.3%. In that same time frame, unlevered free cash flow margin has ranged from 2.8% to 14.8%.

How do those figures compare with those of the company's peers? See for yourself:

Source: S&P Capital IQ; margin ranges are combined.

Additionally, over the last five years, WMS Industries has tallied up five years of positive earnings and five years of positive free cash flow.

Next, let's figure out...

How much growth we can expect
Analysts tend to comically overstate their five-year growth estimates. If you accept them at face value, you willoverpay for stocks. But while you should definitely take the analysts' prognostications with a grain of salt, they can still provide a useful starting point when compared to similar numbers from a company's closest rivals.

Let's start by seeing what this company's done over the past five years. In that time period, WMS Industries has put up past EPS growth rates of 11.8%. Meanwhile, Wall Street's analysts expect future growth rates of 12.5%.

Here's how WMS Industries compares to its peers for trailing five-year growth (due to losses, Bally's and Scientific Games' trailing growth rates aren't meaningful):

Source: S&P Capital IQ; EPS growth shown.

And here's how it measures up with regard to the growth analysts expect over the next five years:

Source: S&P Capital IQ; estimates for EPS growth.

The bottom line
The pile of numbers we've plowed through has shown us the price multiples shares of WMS Industries are trading at, the volatility of its operational performance, and what kind of growth profile it has -- both on an absolute and a relative basis.

The more consistent a company's performance has been and the more growth we can expect, the more we should be willing to pay. We've gone well beyond looking at a 17.7 P/E ratio and we see a cheap-looking five-year P/E ratio. On the other hand, WMS' free cash flows aren't keeping up with its earnings despite a good deal of stock-based compensation. WMS is spending heavily on capital expenditures (which depress cash flows), so the low free cash flows will be justified if the result is future profitable growth.

WMS has maintained profitability in the last five years (though at lower margins than some of its peers) and has grown.

Perhaps reflecting WMS' reasonable but not spectacular initial numbers, our CAPS community rates it a middling three stars out of five. However, all this is just a start. If you find WMS Industries' numbers or story compelling, don't stop. Continue your due diligence process until you're confident one way or the other. As a start, add it to My Watchlist to find all of our Foolish analysis.

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At the time thisarticle was published Anand Chokkavelu doesn't own shares in any company mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of International Game Technology and Bally Technologies. The Fool has opened a short position in Bally Technologies. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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