Sylogist Ltd

Sound bite for Twitter and StockTwits is: Dividend Growth Tech. This is a small cap tech. Mostly the stock price is testing in the expensive range. I agree with Jordan McNamee on Stock Chase that it would be best to buy on weakness. See my spreadsheet on Sylogist Ltd.

I do not own this stock of Sylogist Ltd (TSX-SYZ, OTC-SYZLF). I learned about this stock from the newsletter I subscribe to.

The thing about this company is that they give almost no information on their website. They tell you to go to Sedar for information. There is a lot of insider selling. The Net Insider Selling is 2.63% of market cap. You would expect this to be around 0.02%. The Chairman and CEO (same person) sold over $5M of shares over the past year. Last year he own almost 6% of the company and now owns just over 3%. The thing is that if you have all your money in your own company, it is wise to diversify your investments.

Another thing that I have noticed is that they always seem to have lots of cash on hand. At the end of 2017 financial year they had $1.28 per share. This is some 12.7% of the stock's price. The 5 year median of cash on hand as a percentage of the stock price is 12.7%.

They have only been paying dividends for 7 years. The growth over this is period is 23.5% per year. The growth over the past 5 years is at 15.5% per year. The company not only pays out an increasing dividend, but also pays out special dividends. In the past 7 years they have paid out 4 special dividends, and they have also paid out a special dividend for this current financial year.

The current dividend is moderate at 3.25%. The 5 year and 7 year median dividends are also moderate at 3.01% and 3.02%. Their dividend payout ratios are high, especially when including the special dividends. For 2017 the Dividend Payout Ratio for both dividends is 103% with 5 year cover at 131%. If you look only at the regular dividend the payout ratio for 2017 is 88% with 5 year coverage at 110%.

The Dividend Payout Ratios for CFPS is also high at 56% for 2017 with a5 year coverage at 70%. However, this company does have a lot of cash on hand. At the end of 2017 cash was $1.28 per share which is some 12.7% of the stock's price. Also the 5 year median cash coverage is 12.7% of the stock's price.

This stock has only been around since 1988, so I have 5, 10, 15 and 19 years of total return data. The total returns for these periods are 28.49%, 44.43%, 45.06% and 1.75% per year. Total return includes both capital gains and dividends and is from December to December.

Note that in this stock started out in 1998 in the $6 and $8 range and then spiked at $24.95 in 2000. It did not surpass the earlier prices until 2014 and has never come close to the 2000 spike. A lot of tech companies spiked in 2000. If you look at a chart, there have been ups and downs since 2014, but it has not surpassed 2014 prices yet. The high in 2014 was $11.00and the high in 2017 is $10.08.

The 5 year low, median and high Price/Earnings per Share Ratios are 23.94, 31.30 and 40.54. The 10 year ratios are 16.09, 23.27 and 31.85. The historical ratios are 2.33, 9.91 and 15.35. It would seem that the price part of this equation is rising faster than the earnings part. The current P/E Ratio is 30.94 based on a current stock price of $9.90 and 12 month EPS to the end of September 2017 the last 12 month period. This stock price testing suggests that the stock price is on the relatively expensive side.

The 10 year low, median and high median Price/Graham Price Ratios are 1.32, 2.12 and 2.68. These are really high ratios. The current P/GP Ratio is 2.74 based on a stock price of $9.90. This stock price testing suggests that the stock price is on the relatively expensive.

The 10 year Price/Book Value per Share Ratio is 3.34. The current P/B Ratio is 5.47 based on Book Value of $40.6M, Book Value per Share of $1.81 and a stock price of $9.90. The current P/B Ratio is some 64% higher than the 10 year ratio. This stock price testing suggests that the stock price is relatively expensive.

The historical (or 7 year) median dividend yield is 3.02%. The current dividend yield is 3.23% based on dividends of $0.32 and a stock price of $9.90. The current dividend yield is some 7% higher than the historical one. This stock price testing suggests that the stock price is relatively reasonable but above the median.

As I mentioned above they are paying out a very high portion and sometimes more than the EPS in dividends. However, they do have a lot of cash and all that cash is from operations. There OPM (Operational Profit Margin or Cash Flow from Operations divided by Revenue is quite high at 37% in 2017.)

I can find no site with analysts' recommendations on this stock. However, if you follow the link for Stock Chase below, there are some. One analyst suggested buying the company only on weakness. This was in October of 2017.

The 10 year median Price/Sales (Revenue) Ratio is 5.11. The current P/S Ratio is 6.75 based on latest 12 months Revenue to the end of September 2017 of $32.9M and a stock price of $9.90. The current P/S Ratio is some 32% higher than the 10 year median. This stock price testing suggests that the stock price is on the relatively expensive.

Veer Mallick on Simply Wall Street talks about the implication of no debt for this company. Lenox Staff says on Lenox Ledger that the company's Value Composite score is 58. This show the company is neither under or overvalued. This article on Globe News Wire talks about the company acquiring software used in US schools. See what analysts are saying about this stock on Stock Chase. They mostly like the company.

Sylogist Ltd is a technology licensing company. The Company through strategic acquisitions, investments and operations management provides intellectual property solutions to public and private sector customers. Its web site is here Sylogist Ltd.

The last stock I wrote about was about was Transcontinental Inc. (TSX-TCL, OTC-TCLAF)... learn more. The next stock I will write about will be Enghouse Systems Ltd (TSX-ENGH, OTC-EGHSF)... learn more on January 26, 2018 around 5 pm. Tomorrow on my other blog I will write about Banks and Other Things.... learn more on Thursday, January 25, 2018 around 5 pm.

Also, on my book blog I have put a review of the book The Ends of the World by Peter Brannen learn more...

This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. I do research for my own edification and I am willing to share. I write what I think and I may or may not be correct.

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