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DOW shares: your next blue chip investment?

The Downer EDI Ltd (ASX:DOW) share price is up 29.3% since the start of 2024. It's probably worth asking, 'is the DOW share price undervalued?'
The Downer EDI Ltd (ASX:DOW) share price is up 29.3% since the start of 2024. At the same time, the Hub24 Ltd (ASX:HUB) share price is 0.5% away from its 52-week high. This brief article explains why it could be worth adding DOW and HUB shares to your ASX investing stock watchlist.

DOW share price in focus

Downer is the leading provider of integrated infrastructure services in Australia and New Zealand. They’re responsible for building, maintaining, and operating transit systems, utilities services, and public infrastructure.

While the name might not be familiar, you’ve definitely come across their work. Downer operate services like the Yarra Trams in Melbourne, and build the passenger trains you see in most states.

Downer separates its business into three main segments of Transport, Utilities, and Facilities. Transport delivers a little over 50% of their revenue, and Utilities and Facilities around 20% and 30% respectively.

HUB shares

HUB24 is a leading player in the wealth management software industry, offering diversified solutions across financial advice, superannuation, and investment management.

HUB24’s three main products are its platforms HUB24, Class, and myprosperity. The HuB24 platform is designed for financial advisers and their clients, providing access to a range of managed funds and investment products. Class is a leading software for self-managed super funds to manage portfolios, legal documentation, and compliance. myprosperity is focused on accountants and advisers, enabling them to provide an enhanced service and customer experience.

HUB24’s competitive advantage is in the quality of its service. In 2024 they’ve been awarded Overall Best Platform in the Adviser Ratings Financial Advice Landscape Report, and ranked first for Overall Satisfaction and Brand Image and Reputation in the 2024 Wealth Insights Platform Service Level Report.

DOW share price valuation

We would consider DOW to be a ‘mature’ or ‘blue-chip’ business, so some of the metrics that could be worth considering include the debt/equity ratio, average yield, and return on equity, or ROE. These measures give us a sense of the company’s debt levels, their ability to generate returns from their assets, and their ability to consistently return profits to shareholders.

For FY24, Downer EDI Ltd reported a debt/equity ratio of 81.1%, meaning the company has more equity than debt.

Over the last 5 years, DOW has delivered an average dividend yield of 3.7% per year. This is important to note if you’re looking for income from your investments.

Finally, in FY24, DOW reported an ROE of 3.6%. For a mature business you generally want to see an ROE of more than 10%, so DOW’s returns are a bit less than what we’d expect.

As a growth company, some of the trends we might consider from HUB shares include revenue growth, profit growth, and return on equity (ROE). I say ‘trends’ because it’s always important to look at these figures over a few years. The trend is much more valuable info than a single measure at one point in time.

Over the last 3 years, HUB has increased revenue at a rate of 44.4% per year to hit $328m in FY24. Meanwhile, net profit has increased from $10m to $47m. HUB’s last reported ROE was 9.2%.

Please keep in mind that context is important – these metrics give us some indication of company performance, but it’s just the start of valuing DOW or HUB shares. To learn more about valuation, check out one of our free online investing courses.

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