Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

This Is Our Sell Discipline

Published 03/07/2021, 06:39 AM
Updated 07/09/2023, 06:31 AM

A client asked whether there is a difference in our sell discipline between high- and low-growth companies.

Selling is one of the hardest parts of investing. I wrote a lot on the subject in the past, but let’s zoom in on how our selling practice differs between high-growth companies with long runways for compounding and slow-growth companies.

Let’s take McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK), for example. MCK grows revenues 3%, maybe even 5%, a year (depending on drug price inflation).

Its earnings growth will be helped by MCK buying back its stock. This will add another 3–8%, depending on the valuation of the stock (the cheaper the stock the more shares it can buy). When we look at McKesson’s earnings four years out, we have a relatively narrow range of fair values for the company. As the stock starts approaching our middle-of-the-road fair value, we’ll start decreasing our position. As it gets to the higher end of fair value, we’ll sell the full position. The difference between the low and high fair values for these two scenarios will probably be 15–25% or so.

MCK is a very stable and predictable business. We may sell it in halves, thirds, or quarters. This is not a science but an art.

Then we’ll have companies that are run by owner-operators that have a high return on capital and a long growth runway. Let’s call them perennial compounders. With these types of companies we need to be more patient with our sell discipline than with McKesson. This combination of owner-operator (especially when he/she has skin in the game), high return on capital, and opportunities to reinvest this capital often surprises us with an upside scenario. We are a lot more patient (and forgiving) with this type of company.

We keep companies like McKesson on a relatively short leash. For companies like the perennial compounders we need to use a longer leash, one of those extendable leashes.

Disclosure: Vitaliy Katsenelson is CIO at Investment Management Associates; His investment strategy is spelled out here.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.