Yahoo Finance Is Now The Time To Put Oxford Industries (NYSE:OXM) On Your Watchlist?
For beginners, it can seem like a good idea (and an exciting prospect) to buy a company that tells a good story to investors, even if it currently lacks a track record of revenue and profit. But as Peter Lynch said in One Up On Wall Street, 'Long shots almost never pay off.' A loss-making company is yet to prove itself with profit, and eventually the inflow of external capital may dry up.
Despite being in the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, many investors still adopt a more traditional strategy; buying shares in profitable companies like Oxford Industries (NYSE:OXM). Even if this company is fairly valued by the market, investors would agree that generating consistent profits will continue to provide Oxford Industries with the means to add long-term value to shareholders.
See our latest analysis for Oxford Industries
Oxford Industries' Earnings Per Share Are Growing
Generally, companies experiencing growth in earnings per share (EPS) should see similar trends in share price. That means EPS growth is considered a real positive by most successful long-term investors. Impressively, Oxford Industries has grown EPS by 35% per year, compound, in the last three years. If the company can sustain that sort of growth, we'd expect shareholders to come away satisfied.
It's often helpful to take a look at earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins, as well as revenue growth, to get another take on the quality of the company's growth. The good news is that Oxford Industries is growing revenues, and EBIT margins improved by 5.9 percentage points to 16%, over the last year. Both of which are great metrics to check off for potential growth.
The chart below shows how the company's bottom and top lines have progressed over time. Click on the chart to see the exact numbers.
Of course the knack is to find stocks that have their best days in the future, not in the past. You could base your opinion on past performance, of course, but you may also want to check this interactive graph of professional analyst EPS forecasts for Oxford Industries.
Are Oxford Industries Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?
It's a necessity that company leaders act in the best interest of shareholders and so insider investment always comes as a reassurance to the market. So it is good to see that Oxford Industries insiders have a significant amount of capital invested in the stock. As a matter of fact, their holding is valued at US$49m. That's a lot of money, and no small incentive to work hard. Even though that's only about 3.5% of the company, it's enough money to indicate alignment between the leaders of the business and ordinary shareholders.
While it's always good to see some strong conviction in the company from insiders through heavy investment, it's also important for shareholders to ask if management compensation policies are reasonable. Our quick analysis into CEO remuneration would seem to indicate they are. The median total compensation for CEOs of companies similar in size to Oxford Industries, with market caps between US$1.0b and US$3.2b, is around US$5.5m.
Oxford Industries' CEO took home a total compensation package worth US$4.8m in the year leading up to January 2022. That is actually below the median for CEO's of similarly sized companies. CEO compensation is hardly the most important aspect of a company to consider, but when it's reasonable, that gives a little more confidence that leadership are looking out for shareholder interests. Generally, arguments can be made that reasonable pay levels attest to good decision-making.
Should You Add Oxford Industries To Your Watchlist?
If you believe that share price follows earnings per share you should definitely be delving further into Oxford Industries' strong EPS growth. If you still have your doubts, remember too that company insiders have a considerable investment aligning themselves with the shareholders and CEO pay is quite modest compared to similarly sized companiess. This may only be a fast rundown, but the key takeaway is that Oxford Industries is worth keeping an eye on. Even so, be aware that Oxford Industries is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...
Although Oxford Industries certainly looks good, it may appeal to more investors if insiders were buying up shares. If you like to see insider buying, then this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying, could be exactly what you're looking for.
Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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