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.
TLS shares
Founded in 1975, Telstra is Australia’s largest telecommunications company by market share, with over 22.5 million retail mobile accounts as of 2023.
Telstra is responsible for building and operating telecommunications networks across Australia, offering a variety of services, including fixed broadband, mobile, data and IP, and digital media. In addition to its operations within Australia, Telstra has a presence in more than 20 countries, providing services to governments and businesses globally.
Telstra’s competitive advantage lies in its extensive reach and scale, covering 99.6% of the Australian population and delivering 5G services to over 85% of the country.
SOL & TLS 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 2.62%, 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.
TLS is offering a historical dividend yield of around 4.06%, which compares to its 5-year average of 3.62%. This is just one of many ways you could put a value on TLS 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 TLS.
