Suddenly, value stocks are generating plenty of buzz, some at the expense of their growth rivals. However, not all value stocks are good values. Investors can avoid the pitfall of value traps with the ERShares Entrepreneurs ETF (ENTR).
ENTR tries to reflect the performance of the Entrepreneur 30 Index, which is comprised of 30 U.S. companies with the highest market capitalizations and composite scores based on six criteria referred to as entrepreneurial standards. ENTR primarily invests in US Large Cap companies that meet the thresholds embedded in their proprietary Entrepreneur Factor (EF).
ERShares founder Joel Shulman “advises listeners to be careful in buying traditional value stocks at this time. Prospective buyers should be wary of the price levels for debt-rich, declining margin, ‘value stocks’ that are at risk for a major price correction,” according to the issuer.
The Growth vs. Value Debate
Growth stocks are often associated with high-quality, prosperous companies whose earnings are expected to continue increasing at an above-average rate relative to the market. Growth stocks generally have high price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios and high price-to-book ratios. Still, data suggest the growth/value premium isn’t overly elevated relative to historical norms.
Some “traditional, value stocks that have also reached high levels while simultaneously flirting with bankruptcy (Avis, etc). Shulman believes that growth stocks will bounce back,” notes ERShares.
Growth stocks may be seen as exorbitant and overvalued, causing some investors to favor value stocks, which are considered undervalued by the market. Value stocks tend to trade at a lower price relative to their fundamentals (including dividends, earnings, and sales). While they generally have solid fundamentals, value stocks may have lost popularity in the market and are considered bargain priced compared with their competitors.
ENTR also includes sophisticated screens to weed out undesirable companies. The factors screened include management, which requires set factors regarding a company’s management, such as the turnover among the top five executives within a company compared to other companies in the broader universe. A profitability screen requires a company to meet predetermined criteria regarding net income over a static threshold to be included, including the company’s net income as compared to predetermined benchmarks.
