Information Services Group is an information research and consulting group. They are traded on NASDAQ under III. The company uses innovative research techniques to help other companies advance competitively. Their biggest aim with companies increase their growth rates. It is the mathematical algorithms that the company develops and implements that is the key to their success.
Unfortunately, as was the fate of many companies through the past recession, the company saw significant decreases to their bottom line in 2012. Many other companies cut their expenses back as much as they could, and this was a company that saw its fortunes flatten. But, that was to be expected. In an economic environment that was prevalent during the Great Recession, where companies were seeing growth shrivel up into negative territory, it would have been hard to employ any kind of mathematics to make their sales increase. And, so, ISG’s sales declined appreciatively during that period, as these earnings show:
2012: -$1.54
2013: $0.02
2014: $0.13
2015: $0.17
2016: $0.13
Earnings have turned back to positive and have remained. After the loss of revenue that they witnessed in the recession, the company paired back on their costs, cutting staff and other expenses. The drop in revenue was not dramatically large as much as it was sudden. Now, since stabilizing, their revenue has been increasing steadily over the past few years. The firm’s equity has been improving as well as their assets and debt.
The assets to debt ratio has remained very favorable throughout the past several years; the ratio increased from 1.87 to 2.42. From here, after paying down a little bit of debt the company has the ability to focus on using its own mathematics and improve its growth rate.
The economics that pushed sales down as was witnessed in 2012 have since reversed considerably. The U.S. economy is expanding. And, the fortunes of this company will likely do the same. Customer needs will be to see their own bottom lines improve. As the economy expands, companies will start to race each other to gain competitive advantages. Every little edge that a firm can use to get to where it is going will be utilized. This is where ISG’s stock will become favorable. The company has the ability to really grow itself.
And, outlying countries that have not seen their own economy turn for the better, such as Asia and Europe, are also going to see their fortunes move forward. The United States has long bee the engine of growth for the world. Right now, that engine is really starting to rumble. That will pull these other country’s economies forward more and more. And, ISG offices in these areas are going to be expanding once again to see the demands of these European and Asian company’s needs.
ISG has taken a large beating in its stock price since the drops of The Great Recession. The stock is now trading at a price of $3.67. It was once was trading at a price twice that. The earnings for the firs quarter of this reporting year are to be around $0.25. This puts the stock trading at about 13 times earnings. This is a little more than I like to pay for a price-to-earnings ratio. But, it is the forward potential that I like so much. Forward guidance would ostensibly push the stock upwards back above the $5.50 level, giving a potential return on the stock of about 50%.
That potential is what appeals to me, and the potential makes sense when you consider that the company’s stock has lagged the growth rates of the rest of the market. ISG should be given a great deal of consideration for your own portfolio. It has the potential for a great deal of growth.