The question that inevitably surfaces in practice, and certainly in lecture halls, is which equity valuation method is superior. Popular opinion holds that academia and investment practitioners may have different preferences in this regard. This article investigates which primary minority and majority equity valuation methods are advocated by academia, and how well these preferences are aligned with the equity valuation methods that investment practitioners apply in practice. The research results reveal that, contrary to popular belief, academia and practice are fairly well aligned in terms of preferred equity valuation methods, with notable differences in their respective approaches.
Although multiples are used extensively in practice, empirical guidance in emerging markets is limited in this regard. In terms of valuation accuracy, the impact of peer group selection by way of industry classification in emerging markets has not yet been substantiated by research. This paper investigates the valuation performance of multiples over various industry classifications when valuing the equity of South African companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange for the period 2001 to 2010. The empirical results revealed that peer group selection based on a narrower industry classification could, on average, increase valuation accuracy by as much as 19.60%.
Despite the popularity of multiples among analysts in practice, the emerging market literature offers little empirical guidance for the use thereof. This paper investigates the relative valuation performance of various value drivers when valuing the equity of South African companies listed on the JSE Securities Exchange for the period 2001-2010. The empirical results revealed, among other findings, that earnings-based value drivers offered the highest degree of valuation accuracy, while cash flowand sales-based value drivers offered the lowest degree of valuation accuracy. Dividend- and assetbased value drivers offered average results. An interesting phenomenon was that, contrary to popular belief, cash flow-based value drivers only offered marginal improvements in valuation accuracy viz-à-viz sales-based value drivers; and not consistently so.
The price earnings (P/E) ratio is generally regarded as the most popular multiple used to value equity in practice. Although this is supported by evidence from practice, the use of the P/E ratio has not been substantiated by evidence from research. This article investigates the accuracy of the five most popular multiples, including the P/E ratio, in valuing the equity of South African companies listed on the JSE Securities Exchange, for the period 1988 to 2007. The research results revealed that the P/E ratio does not perform the most accurate valuations across all sectors and that different multiples should be used for different sectors. There is an opportunity to enhance the accuracy of equity valuations based on multiples by employing multiples other than the P/E ratio.
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