SOL share price in focus
Washington H. Soul Pattinson (WHSP) is a diversified investment company with a portfolio of assets across a range of industries and asset classes.
Some of SOL’s largest holdings include stakes in other 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 aim is to deliver superior returns to its shareholders by creating capital growth and steadily increasing dividends as a holding company. As the second-oldest publicly listed company on the ASX it has developed a strong track record of doing just that. In fact, SOL has never missed a dividend payment since listing in 1903! It could best be thought of as a family-run LIC with directors that are financially aligned with shareholders.
QBE shares
QBE began as a marine insurance company in Townsville in the late 1800s and has grown into one of Australia’s largest insurers.
Today, the group operates in 27 countries, offering a broad range of insurance products across the commercial, consumer, reinsurance, and agriculture sectors.
Although QBE has Australian origins, only about 30% of its revenue is now generated domestically, with another 30% coming from the United States and the remainder primarily from Europe.
SOL & QBE share price valuation
One way to have a ‘quick read’ of where the SOL share price is could be to study something like dividend yield over time. This can give us a sense of the stability of the company and whether they can consistently pay out a percentage of profits.
Remember, the dividend yield is basically the ‘cash flow’ to a shareholder, but it can fluctuate year-to-year or between payments. Currently, Washington H Soul Pattinson & Company Ltd shares have a dividend yield of around 2.96%, compared to its 5-year average of 2.44%. In other words, SOL shares are trading higher than their historical average dividend yield. Be careful how you interpret this information though – it could mean that dividends are growing, or it could mean the share price is falling, or both. In the case of SOL, the annual report shows last year’s dividend was greater than the 3-year average, so the dividend has been growing.
QBE is offering a historical dividend yield of around 4.24%, which compares to its 5-year average of 2.84%. This is just one of many ways you could put a value on QBE shares. The Rask websites offer free online investing courses, created by analysts explaining valuation methods like Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) and Dividend Discount Models (DDM). They even include free valuation spreadsheets which can help you learn how to value a company like SOL or QBE.
