SOL share price in focus
Founded in 1903, Washington H. Soul Pattinson (WHSP) is an investment company with a diversified portfolio spanning various industries and asset classes.
Some of its largest holdings include significant stakes in well-known publicly listed companies such as TPG Telecom (ASX: TPG), New Hope Group (ASX: NHC), and a cross-shareholding in Brickworks (ASX: BKW).
SOL’s goal is to deliver strong returns to its shareholders through capital growth and a consistent increase in dividends as a holding company. As the second-oldest publicly listed company on the ASX, it boasts a long history of capital appreciation and dividend reliability. In fact, it has never missed a dividend payment since its listing in 1903! SOL operates like a family-run LIC, with a focus on the benefit of all shareholders, who are closely aligned with the company’s success.
RIO shares
Founded in 1873, Rio Tinto is today the world’s second largest metal and mining company, behind only BHP Group. Rio Tinto is engaged in minerals and metals exploration, development, production and processing.
Rio can be divided into four core business units: Aluminium, Copper & Diamonds, Energy & Minerals and Iron Ore.
Of the four units, iron ore (the primary component in steel manufacturing) is by far the largest export. It’s no surprise then that the performance of the company can be strongly affected by the price of iron ore and other key commodities, making earnings somewhat volatile.
SOL share price valuation
We would consider SOL 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, Washington H Sl Pttnsn nd Cmpny Ltd reported a debt/equity ratio of 8.5%, meaning the company has more equity than debt.
Over the last 5 years, SOL has delivered an average dividend yield of 2.4% per year. This is important to note if you’re looking for income from your investments.
Finally, in FY24, SOL reported an ROE of 5.6%. For a mature business you generally want to see an ROE of more than 10%, so SOL’s returns are a bit less than what we’d expect.
In FY24, Rio Tinto Ltd reported a debt/equity ratio of 25.0%, meaning the company has more equity than debt.
As for dividends, since 2019 RIO has achieved an average dividend yield of 6.4% per year, and in FY24 reported an ROE of 18.2%
It’s important to keep in mind that these are only a small selection of metrics and don’t give us enough information to value the business or make an investment decision. To learn more about valuation, check out one of our free online investing courses.
