Every share and ETF in the catalogue gets a score from 0 to 100. It is a summary of public figures about the company or the fund, calculated the same way for all of them. It is information, not a recommendation to buy or sell.
What the number means
70 or more: strong55 to 69: fairBelow 55: weak
Next to the score there is a grade from A to D. The grade is not about the company: it says how much of the score could be measured. A means almost all the figures were available, D means many were missing. A part without figures gets a cautious value, never zero and never the maximum, so a company does not gain by publishing less.
Warnings take points off (a dividend larger than the profits, a price that has fallen a lot, a share that hardly trades) and the most serious ones put a ceiling on the score.
Shares that pay a dividend
The weights favour income that is likely to last: a high yield only counts if the dividend looks safe.
| Part | Points | What it looks at |
|---|---|---|
| Yield | 25 | How much the dividend pays for today's price. |
| Dividend safety | 25 | Whether profits and cash cover the dividend, and how much debt the company carries. |
| Dividend growth | 15 | How the dividend has grown over the years. |
| Quality | 15 | The margins and the returns of the business. |
| Valuation | 10 | The price against the profits, compared with the other companies of the sector. |
| Analysts | 5 | What the analysts who follow the company expect. |
| Fit with your portfolio | 5 | Only inside your account: whether it adds a sector or a country you do not have yet. |
Shares that do not pay a dividend
A company that pays no dividend is judged on its business instead.
| Part | Points | What it looks at |
|---|---|---|
| Business growth | 25 | How sales and profits have grown. |
| Quality | 25 | The margins and the returns of the business. |
| Financial strength | 20 | Debt, cash and the ability to pay what it owes. |
| Valuation | 15 | The price against the profits, compared with the other companies of the sector. |
| Analysts | 10 | What the analysts who follow the company expect. |
| Fit with your portfolio | 5 | Only inside your account: whether it adds a sector or a country you do not have yet. |
ETFs
A fund is judged on what it costs and on how it has behaved. Leveraged and inverse products are never recommended, whatever their numbers.
| Part | Points | What it looks at |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | 30 | The yearly fee of the fund: the lower, the better. |
| Return for the risk | 25 | The return of the last three years against how much the price swung. |
| Size and liquidity | 20 | How large the fund is and how much of it trades each day. |
| Track record | 15 | How many years of history the fund has. |
| Deepest fall | 10 | The largest drop from a peak in its history. |
What the score is not
- It is not advice. It does not know your goals, your taxes or how much risk you can take.
- It looks at the past and at today's figures. A good score does not promise a good result.
- The figures come from public market data and can be late or wrong. Check the company's own reports before deciding.