Five Star Senior Living Inc. (FVE)

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January 24, 2021

We continue with examples of Boole’s quantitative investment process in action.

Recently, we looked at the following companies:

North American Construction Group Ltd. (NOA): https://boolefund.com/north-american-construction-group-ltd-noa/

Vera Bradley, Inc. (VRA): https://boolefund.com/vera-bradley-inc-vra/

Lazydays Holdings, Inc. (LAZY): https://boolefund.com/lazydays-holdings-inc-lazy/

Karora Resources Inc. (KRRGF): https://boolefund.com/karora-resources-inc-krrgf/

Diamond S Shipping Inc. (DSSI): https://boolefund.com/diamond-s-shipping-inc-dssi/

DHI Group, Inc. (DHX): https://boolefund.com/dhi-group-inc-dhx/

Saga Communications Inc. (SGA): https://boolefund.com/saga-communications-inc-sga/

Northwest Pipe Co. (NWPX): https://boolefund.com/northwest-pipe-co-nwpx/

Smart Sand Inc. (SND): https://boolefund.com/smart-sand-inc-snd/

Terravest Industries Inc. (TVK.TO): https://boolefund.com/terravest-industries-inc-tvk/

LGL Group, Inc. (LGL): https://boolefund.com/lgl-group-inc-lgl/

G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. (GIII): https://boolefund.com/g-iii-apparel-group-ltd-giii/

Hummingbird Resources Plc. (HUMRF): https://boolefund.com/hummingbird-resources-plc-humrf/

Micropac Industries, Inc. (MPAD): https://boolefund.com/micropac-industries-inc-mpad/

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (BBSI): https://boolefund.com/barrett-business-services-inc-bbsi/

Delta Apparel, Inc. (DLA): https://boolefund.com/delta-apparel-inc-dla/

AdvanSix, Inc. (ASIX): https://boolefund.com/advansix-inc-asix/

Universal Technical Institute (UTI): https://boolefund.com/universal-technical-institute-uti/

Burnham Holdings Inc (BURCA): https://boolefund.com/burnham-holdings-inc-burca/

Select Interior Concepts (SIC): https://boolefund.com/select-interior-concepts-sic/

Manitowoc (MTW): https://boolefund.com/manitowoc-mtw/

Ciner Resources LP (CINR): https://boolefund.com/ciner-resources-lp-cinr/

Global Ship Lease (GSL): https://boolefund.com/global-ship-lease-gsl/

Alico, Inc. (ALCO): https://boolefund.com/alico-inc-alco/

Genco Shipping (GNK): https://boolefund.com/genco-shipping-gnk/

SEACOR Marine (SMHI): https://boolefund.com/seacor-marine-smhi/

Tidewater (TDW): https://boolefund.com/tidewater-tdw/

TravelCenters of America (TA): https://boolefund.com/travelcenters-america-ta/

Teekay Tankers (TNK): https://boolefund.com/teekay-tankers-tnk/

Ranger Energy Services (RNGR): https://boolefund.com/ranger-energy-services-rngr/

Macro Enterprises (Canada: MCR.V): https://boolefund.com/macro-enterprises-mcr-v/

This week, we are going to look at Five Star Senior Living Inc. (FVE), which serves approximately 23,000 older adult residents in 262 senior living communities with 30,413 living units across 31 states, offering Independent Living, Assisted Living, Alzheimer’s/Memory Care, Continuing Care Retirement Communities, and Stand-Alone Skilled Nursing.

FVE has a market cap of $234.6 million, with $105.2 million in cash and $32.2 million in debt. The stock price is $7.43.

Step One

First we screen for cheapness based on five metrics. Here are the numbers for FVE:

    • EV/EBITDA = 4.54
    • P/E = 15.64
    • P/B = 1.13
    • P/CF = 5.12
    • P/S = 0.20

Step Two

Next we calculate the Piotroski F-Score, which is a measure of the fundamental strength of the company. For more on the Piostroski F-Score, see my blog post here: https://boolefund.com/piotroski-f-score/

NOA has a Piotroski F-Score of 6. (The best score possible is 9, while the worst score is 0.) This is decent.

Step Three

Then we rank the company based on low debt, high insider ownership, and shareholder yield.

We measure debt levels by looking at total liabilities (TL) to total assets (TA). FVE has TL/TA of 53.3%, which is OK.

Insider ownership is important because that means that the people running the company have interests that are aligned with the interests of other shareholders. At FVE, insiders own 66.9% of the shares.

Shareholder yield is the dividend yield plus the buyback yield. At FVE, the dividend yield is zero. But the company massively increased its share count as a part of restructuring (getting rid of $900 million in operating leases). So shareholder yield is negative.

Each component of the ranking has a different weight. The overall combined ranking of FVE places it in the top 50 stocks on our screen, or the top 2% of the more than two thousand companies we ranked.

Step Four

The final step is to study the company’s financial statements, presentations, and quarterly conference calls to (i) check for non-recurring items, hidden liabilities, and bad accounting; (ii) estimate intrinsic value–how much the business is worth–using scenarios for low, mid, and high cases.

See FVE’s most recent investor presentation (November, 2020): http://s1.q4cdn.com/858151462/files/doc_presentations/2020/FVE_Investor-Presentation_November-2020_Final-(2).pdf

See also the following writeup: https://valueinvestorsclub.com/idea/Five_Star_Senior_Living_/7686805737#description

(You may have to become a guest member of www.valueinvestorsclub.com, but it is free to do so.)

Intrinsic value scenarios:

    • Low case: The company is probably not worth much less than half of book value of $6.57 a share. That works out to $3.29, which is 55% lower than today’s $7.43.
    • Mid case: EBITDA is $33.14 million. With an EV/EBITDA of 8, the stock would be worth $11.06 a share, which is 49% higher than today’s $7.43.
    • High case: EBITDA may reach $40 million. With an EV/EBITDA of 10, the stock would be worth $15.33, which is over 105% higher than today’s $7.43.

 

BOOLE MICROCAP FUND

An equal weighted group of micro caps generally far outperforms an equal weighted (or cap-weighted) group of larger stocks over time. See the historical chart here: https://boolefund.com/best-performers-microcap-stocks/

This outperformance increases significantly by focusing on cheap micro caps. Performance can be further boosted by isolating cheap microcap companies that show improving fundamentals. We rank microcap stocks based on these and similar criteria.

There are roughly 10-20 positions in the portfolio. The size of each position is determined by its rank. Typically the largest position is 15-20% (at cost), while the average position is 8-10% (at cost). Positions are held for 3 to 5 years unless a stock approachesintrinsic value sooner or an error has been discovered.

The mission of the Boole Fund is to outperform the S&P 500 Index by at least 5% per year (net of fees) over 5-year periods. We also aim to outpace the Russell Microcap Index by at least 2% per year (net). The Boole Fund has low fees.

 

If you are interested in finding out more, please e-mail me or leave a comment.

My e-mail: jb@boolefund.com

 

 

 

Disclosures: Past performance is not a guarantee or a reliable indicator of future results. All investments contain risk and may lose value. This material is distributed for informational purposes only. Forecasts, estimates, and certain information contained herein should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. Information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but not guaranteed.No part of this article may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without express written permission of Boole Capital, LLC.