I do not own this stock of Ballard Power Systems Inc (TSX-BLDP, NASDAQ-BLDP), but once did. Back in 1997, I read about Ballard and fell in love with the idea of cars running with fuel cells. I could help save the environment and also make some money. It was very attractive. I sold this stock in 2006 because it had lost its attraction. It did not seem that Ballard fuel cells would be in any car anytime soon. I was ahead in 2000, but the stock started to fall in October 2000 and never recovered.
When I was updating my spreadsheet, I noticed that this company certainly has staying power. I have tracked it for some 23 years. They have revenue, but seldom ever made a profit or positive cash flow. The green on my spreadsheet just denotes less awful losses, not any real positive gains. The company has again increased their shares as a way of getting cash. Shares outstanding increased by 30% in 2018.
This company has no dividends and never had any.
Debt Ratios are good. The long Term Debt/Market Cap is very low at just 0.01. Both the Liquidity Ratio and the Debt Ratio are very good at 5.48 and 5.45 for 2018. They just raised a lot of cash recently. The Leverage and Debt/Equity Ratios are also good at 1.22 and 0.22
The Total Return per year is shown below for years of 5 to 23 to the end of 2018 in CDN$. Under the Capital Gain column is the portion of the Total Return attributable to capital gains. Under the Dividend column is the portion of the Total Return attributable to dividends. See chart below.
| From | Years | Div. Gth | Tot Ret | Cap Gain | Div. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 5 | 0.00% | 15.29% | 15.29% | 0.00% |
| 2008 | 10 | 0.00% | 9.36% | 9.36% | 0.00% |
| 2003 | 15 | 0.00% | -9.72% | -9.72% | 0.00% |
| 1998 | 20 | 0.00% | -11.97% | -11.97% | 0.00% |
| 1995 | 23 | 0.00% | -1.82% | -1.82% | 0.00% |
The Total Return per year is shown below for years of 5 to 23 to the end of 2018 in US$.
| From | Years | Div. Gth | Tot Ret | Cap Gain | Div. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 5 | 0.00% | 9.47% | 9.47% | 0.00% |
| 2008 | 10 | 0.00% | 6.20% | 6.20% | 0.00% |
| 2003 | 15 | 0.00% | -10.11% | -10.11% | 0.00% |
| 1998 | 20 | 0.00% | -11.45% | -11.45% | 0.00% |
| 1995 | 23 | 0.00% | -1.83% | -1.83% | 0.00% |
I cannot test the stock price using Price/Earnings per Share Ratios because all the ratios are negative. The company does not often have positive earnings. I cannot do a Graham Price test because of the number of earnings losses years. I cannot do an historical median dividend yield test as it has no dividends.
I get a 10 year median Price/Book Value per Share Ratio of 2.26. The current ratio is 3.83 based on a stock price of $5.77, Book Value of $350M and Book Value per Share of $1.50. The current ratio is 69% higher than the 10 year median ratio. This stock price testing suggests that the stock price is relatively expensive. This is in CDN$, but you will get similar results in US$.
The 10 year median Price/Sales (Revenue) Ratio is 3.39. The current P/S Ratio is 10.57 based on 2019 Revenue estimate of $96 and a stock price of $4.38. The current ratio is 212% above the 10 year median ratio. This stock price testing suggests that the stock price is relatively expensive. This is in US$, but you will get similar results in CDN$.
Results of stock price testing is that the stock price is probably rather expensive at present. The only tests I can do of P/S Ratio and P/B Ratio says this. These are good tests.
Is it a good company at a reasonable price? I no longer buy companies that do not pay a dividend and I certainly do not like companies that cannot turn a profit. This company has gotten more money by selling shares. However, I will continue to follow it as I am interested in how things turn out for the company. With no earnings, it is hard to judge the stock price.
When I look at analysts’ recommendations, I find Strong Buy (1), Buy (1), Hold (1) and Underperform (1). The consensus would be Buy, but recommendations are all over the place. The 12 month stock price is $4.50 US$ or $5.95 CDN$. This implies a total return of 3.08% based on a current stock price of $5.77 CDN$.
See what analysts are saying on Stock Chase. One analyst thought it would a bit of a run. Scott Levine on Motley Fool is interested to see how the company fared in building its order backlog. A writer on Simply Wall Street says that sentiment around the company is currently positive. A writer on Simply Wall Street talks about insider selling at this company. The company on News Wire talks about the second quarterly results for 2019.
Ballard Power Systems Inc is a clean energy growth company. The company is engaged in proton exchange membrane fuel cell development and commercialization. The company's main business is the design, development, manufacture, sale, and service of fuel cell products for a variety of applications, focusing on motive power (material handling and buses) and stationary power (back-up power, supplemental power, and distributed generation). Its web site is here Ballard Power Systems Inc.
The last stock I wrote about was about was Savaria Corporation (TSX-SIS, OTC-SISXF) ... learn more. The next stock I will write about will be Loblaw Companies Ltd (TSX-L, OTC-LBLCF) ... learn more on Wednesday, August 7, 2019 around 5 pm. Today on my other blog I will write about Dividend Stocks August 2019.... learn more on Tuesday, August 6, 2019 around 5 pm.
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