Has Home Inns & Hotels Become the Perfect Stock?

Updated

Every investor would love to stumble upon the perfect stock. But will you ever really find a stock that provides everything you could possibly want?

One thing's for sure: You'll never discover truly great investments unless you actively look for them. Let's discuss the ideal qualities of a perfect stock and then decide whether Home Inns & Hotels (NAS: HMIN) fits the bill.

The quest for perfection
Stocks that look great based on one factor may prove horrible elsewhere, making due diligence a crucial part of your investing research. The best stocks excel in many different areas, including these important factors:

  • Growth. Expanding businesses show healthy revenue growth. While past growth is no guarantee that revenue will keep rising, it's certainly a better sign than a stagnant top line.

  • Margins. Higher sales mean nothing if a company can't produce profits from them. Strong margins ensure that company can turn revenue into profit.

  • Balance sheet. At debt-laden companies, banks and bondholders compete with shareholders for management's attention. Companies with strong balance sheets don't have to worry about the distraction of debt.

  • Moneymaking opportunities. Return on equity helps measure how well a company is finding opportunities to turn its resources into profitable business endeavors.

  • Valuation. You can't afford to pay too much for even the best companies. By using normalized figures, you can see how a stock's simple earnings multiple fits into a longer-term context.

  • Dividends. For tangible proof of profits, a check to shareholders every three months can't be beat. Companies with solid dividends and strong commitments to increasing payouts treat shareholders well.


With those factors in mind, let's take a closer look at Home Inns & Hotels.

Factor

What We Want to See

Actual

Pass or Fail?

Growth

5-Year Annual Revenue Growth > 15%

46%

Pass

1-Year Revenue Growth > 12%

49.8%

Pass

Margins

Gross Margin > 35%

31.4%

Fail

Net Margin > 15%

2.6%

Fail

Balance Sheet

Debt to Equity < 50%

52.8%

Fail

Current Ratio > 1.3

0.87

Fail

Opportunities

Return on Equity > 15%

4%

Fail

Valuation

Normalized P/E < 20

26.97

Fail

Dividends

Current Yield > 2%

0%

Fail

5-Year Dividend Growth > 10%

0%

Fail

Total Score

2 out of 10

Source: S&P Capital IQ. NM = not meaningful because of negative earnings. Total score = number of passes.

Since we looked at Home Inns & Hotels last year, the company has seen its score plunge by 3 points. Drops in margins and greater debt on the balance sheet were responsible for the decline, and the stock's fall of roughly 25% over the past year seems to reflect the same uncertainty despite substantial revenue gains.

For a while now, a rising consumer class in China has bolstered the travel industry there. Online travel portal Ctrip.com (NAS: CTRP) has experienced substantial sales volume increases as more Chinese residents chose to take tours and stay in hotels. At the same time as Marriott (NYS: MAR) and other overseas operators have sought to expand in China, that demand has also helped push sales up for many Chinese hoteliers, including Home Inns & Hotels.

But early this year, Home Inns got a nasty surprise. In March, the company announced that it had earned less than half what Wall Street had expected, despite giving full-year 2012 revenue guidance that exceeded analyst expectations. China Lodging Group (NAS: HTHT) had similarly bad results, although 7 Days (NAS: SVN) managed to provide an earnings beat.

Since then, though, things have gotten a bit better. Last month, Home Inns managed to beat earnings-per-share estimates. But concerns about the Chinese economy led it to temper its forward guidance somewhat, with its recent acquisition of the Hotel 168 chain leaving it more exposed to a slowdown in the Yangtze Delta region.

For Home Inns to improve, it needs to get its margins back up and stop its balance sheet from getting less healthy. If recent measures to stimulate the Chinese economy work, then Home Inns could be a prime beneficiary.

Keep searching
No stock is a sure thing, but some stocks are a lot closer to perfect than others. By looking for the perfect stock, you'll go a long way toward improving your investing prowess and learning how to separate out the best investments from the rest.

Home Inns & Hotels may not be perfect, but we have some other ideas you might like better. Let me invite you to learn about three smart long-term stock plays in the Fool's popular special report. It's yours for the taking and is absolutely free, but don't miss out -- click here and read it today.

Add Home Inns & Hotelsto My Watchlist, which can find all of our Foolish analysis on it and all your other stocks.

The article Has Home Inns & Hotels Become the Perfect Stock? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributorDan Caplingerdoesn't own shares of the companies mentioned.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Ctrip.com. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Fool has adisclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Advertisement