Deep value investing is an intense version of value investing which focuses on buying stocks at a much higher discount to intrinsic value in comparison to value investing. This results in an increase in the potential reward and risk of the investment.

Background

Traditional value investors have the belief that the market will misjudge stock prices in the short-term and hence they prefer to conduct their own fundamental analysis on stocks that they feel may be undervalued. They first determine the intrinsic value of these stocks and compare it with their current market value. Value investors usually invest in stocks where the market value is below its intrinsic value.

Nonetheless, value investors don’t invest in every undervalued stock they come across as each investor has a different level of margin of safety with regards to the market price and intrinsic value. The major difference between value and deep value investing is that deep value investors require a higher margin of safety.

This high margin of safety means that the return potential of the stock will be high but the risk associated with the stock increases as well. Hence deep value investing is usually followed by those investors who understand their strategies and can fully trust their investment decisions.

Benjamin’s Graham’s deep value investment philosophy

Benjamin Graham defined intrinsic value as the value that a businessman places on a business. He believed it was more important to assess the true value of a company based on the numbers present on financial statements such as the assets, earnings, and dividends. He would use these figures to come up with the fair value of the stock. (Also read: How to Find Intrinsic Value of Stocks Using Graham Formula?)

However, Graham would only buy the stock if it was discounted at 1/3^rd (or more) of its intrinsic value. For example, if the intrinsic value of a stock calculated by Benjamin Graham turns out to be at $162, then he would only consider purchasing that stock if it is trading at $108 or less.

Anyways, there are multiple calculation methods that investors can use when valuing stocks such as Discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis, dividend discount model (DDM) and relative valuation tools like the price to earnings, price to book value or price to sales.

How do deep value investors assess the fair value of the stock?

Deep value investors usually buy stock in companies that trade below their liquidation value-although finding such companies is rare. In assessing the fair value of the stock, deep value investors use valuation methods that range in their level of conservativeness. Following are the ways, deep value investors assess the fair value of a company’s stock:

• Most of the low conservative deep investors look at the future earnings of a company ignoring the fact whether the company has a competitive advantage or not. However, there are also a few investors in this group who look at the firm’s competitive advantage which can be used in the future to earn much higher returns.
• Slightly conservative deep investors look at the firm’s ability to produce a profit. The earning power of the company is mostly determined based on past earnings with reference to price to earnings (PE) ratio.
• Highly conservative deep investors look at the book value which involves looking at all the assets held by the company to determine its fair value. They also check Net current asset value, Networking capital and dividends.

Deep value investors use highly conservative strategies the most when looking for stocks that are traded at very low prices.

Deep value Returns

If you are a new investor, you need to use simple strategies that yield the highest return. In other words- deep value is the way to go. Deep value investing in coherence with traditional investing can help an investor earn very high returns. When conducting a conservative assessment of stock value, those stocks with a low price relative to book and current asset value generate very high returns. But remember with higher reward come higher risk.

Deep value Risk

The major risk involved in deep value investing is ending up in a value trap. This is where a stock may seem to be a good investment based on a quantitative analysis with financial ratios like low PE, low price to book value. However, the investor may overlook the ‘qualitative’ factors associated with the stock.

There is often an underlying reason why such stocks trade at a low price. It could be the result of problems with the management of the company or the lack of growth potential. There can be a fundamental problem in the company that is not reflected in its finances. Whatever it may be, an investor needs to be able to spot the reason for the low stock price. If they fail to do so, they end up in a value trap.

Also read:

• The Ultimate Guide to Walter Schloss Investing
• Monte Carlo Simulation -How can it help investors?
• 5 Things Warren Buffett looks for before investing.

Conclusion

Deep value investing can reap high rewards if you are willing to take the risk. A deep value stock usually exists when the company is in a difficult situation. It may take time for the company to recover and eventually generate returns. However, as with any investment, you need to be patient.