Industry: retail
SUPERVALU is a successor to two firms established in the 1870s. Supervalu is a wholesale grocery distributor to independent retail customers in the U.S., and a discount grocery retailer under the Save-A-Lot store name.
| Most recent | Growth rate (CAGR) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 5 years | 10 years | ||
| Book value of equity per share | $12.63 | 24.2% | — | -24.2% |
| BV including aggregate dividends | 24.2% | — | -17.9% | |
| Most recent | Median | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 5 years | 10 years | ||
| ROE | 2.9% | 6.9% | 6.9% | -19.9% |
| ROA | 0.3% | 7.5% | 3.8% | 0.8% |
| Most recent | Growth rate (CAGR) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 5 years | 10 years | ||
| EPS | $0.34 | -97.9% | — | -33.3% |
| Annual dividends | $0 | — | — | — |
| Share price | $32.49 |
| Most recent | Median | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 5 years | 10 years | ||
| P/B ratio | 2.57 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.3 |
| P/E ratio | 95.56 | 1.2 | 9.1 | 9.1 |
A company creates wealth for its long-term shareholders in 2 main ways - through dividend payments and through the accumulation of retained earnings. This graph shows the accumulation of per-share equity of long-term shareholders (green bars), which consists of the retained earnings plus all capital invested in the company, and the cumulative dividends the company has paid over time per share of its stock (blue bars).
In the words of Warren Buffett: "We're looking for... businesses earning good returns on equity while employing little or no debt."
Return on equity is a key metric of financial performance, indicating a company's ability to generate earnings using shareholder capital. Over time, ROE is one of the major determinants of the rate at which a company creates shareholder wealth. The average ROE for large U.S. companies is 12%, and many investors use it as a threshold for attractive investments.
Companies can boost ROE by increasing leverage, which reduces the safety of the investment. Therefore, it is useful to look at the return on assets (ROA), which measures a company's earning power regardless of its capital structure. A widening gap between ROE and ROA may be a warning sign that should be thoroughly investigated.
Earnings per share is a popular metric used to value a company (using P/E ratio); growth in EPS is often used to judge company growth potential. However, many investors believe that EPS is an inferior metric to ROE, because it ignores the amount of capital the company used to generate earnings.
Free cash flow shows how much cash a company generates from operations, above and beyond what is required to maintain or expand its productive assets. This cash can be returned to investors, or spent by management on growing the company or paying back its debts.
Balance sheets of many companies contain intangible assets such as goodwill, trademarks, patents, etc. Many investors consider intangibles more difficult to value than physical assets. If intangible assets had been valued incorrectly, they must be impaired, resulting in a loss charged against shareholder equity. This chart demonstrates the potential loss to shareholder equity from such impairments.
Companies often use debt financing to increase their return on equity. However, as the amount of debt financing increases relative to the amount of equity financing, the company becomes more sensitive to down turns and other negative events. As a result, many investors use the ratio of debt to equity as a measure of a company's financial risk, and avoid companies that have this ratio above 1.
This chart shows shareholder equity as a percentage of total assets, allowing investors to judge the overall leverage. Companies with a higher proportion of equity can be viewed as safer investments. This metric is particularly important for highly leveraged institutions, such as banks, where it must be at least 4% according to government regulations.
The ratio of current assets to current liabilities is known as the current ratio. This metric is a quick measure of the company's ability to pay its short-term obligations. A current ratio below 1 is a warning sign that should be investigated, especially for companies that cannot count on adequate cash flow from operations.
This chart shows the cumulative dilution of investor ownership in a company over time. Dilution reduces an investor's participation in the future earnings. Dilution increases when a company issues new shares, and decreases when a company buys its shares back. Many investors avoid companies with large chronic dilution.
DuPont
analysis provides insight into factors affecting the Return On Equity of a company.
The DuPont equation decomposes ROE as follows:
ROE = (Net margin) * (Asset turnover) * (Asset to equity ratio)
Net margin indicates operating efficiency, Asset turnover measures
the total asset use efficiency, and the Asset to equity ratio is a measure of financial leverage.
The dividend payout ratio tells investors what percentage of earnings a company returns to shareholders, and what percentage it retains and reinvests. This ratio represents a major capital allocation decision by the company, and can be used to judge management rationality. Rational management should pay out all earnings that cannot be productively reinvested. Therefore, a low dividend payout ratio for a profitable company with a low growth potential may be a warning sign.
Many investors use the P/B ratio as a quick way of judging company valuation. Value investors - followers of Graham and Dodd - specifically seek out companies with low P/B ratios. However, investors should be careful not to make investment decisions on this metric alone, without considering a company's earning and growth potential, since a low P/B ratio can be a sign of a bleak future for the business.
P/E ratio is a popular way of making a quick judgment of a company valuation. Value investors - followers of Graham and Dodd - often seek solid companies with low P/E ratios as investment opportunities. However, P/E ratio represents an oversimplified approach to business valuation, and can often lead to incorrect investment decisions.
On August 31, 1999, the company acquired, in a merger, all of the outstanding common stock of Richfood Holdings, Inc. ("Richfood"), a major food retailer and distributor operating primarily in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The acquisition will be accounted for as a purchase. The company issued approximately 19.7 million shares of SUPERVALU common stock with a market value of approximately $443 million and paid $443 million in cash for the common stock of Richfood. In addition, the company repaid approximately $394 million of outstanding Richfood debt. Approximately $291 million of Richfood debt remained outstanding immediately after the acquisition. The allocation of the consideration paid for Richfood to the consolidated assets and liabilities is based on preliminary estimates of their respective fair values. The excess of the purchase price over the fair value of net assets acquired of approximately $1.1 billion is being amortized on a straight line basis over 40 years. The results of Richfood's operations from August 31, 1999 have been included in the company's financial statements.
On June 2, 2006, the Company acquired New Albertson's, Inc. ("New Albertsons") consisting of the core supermarket businesses formerly owned by Albertson's, Inc. operating approximately 1,125 stores under the banners of Acme Markets, Bristol Farms, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's Supermarkets, Star Markets, the Albertsons banner in the Intermountain, Northwest and Southern California regions, the related in-store pharmacies under the Osco and Sav-on banners, 10 distribution centers and certain regional and corporate offices. The Company purchased the Acquired Operations using a combination of stock, debt assumption and cash comprised of: ...cash $7,572 [M] ...approximately 68.5 million shares of SUPERVALU common stock
Consistent with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards ("SFAS") No. 142, "Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets" the Company recorded goodwill and intangible asset impairment charges of $3,524 before tax ($3,326 after tax, or $15.71 per diluted share) in fiscal 2009.
On January 10, 2013, the Company, AB Acquisition LLC ("AB Acquisition") and NAI, entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement (the "Stock Purchase Agreement") providing for the sale by the Company of its Albertsons, Acme, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's and Star Market banners and related Osco and Sav-on in-store pharmacies (collectively, the "NAI Banners") to AB Acquisition. The stock sale (or "divestiture") closed on March 21, 2013. The Company received net proceeds of approximately $100 [MM], and notes receivable of approximately $44 [MM] in exchange for the stock of NAI. AB Acquisition also assumed approximately $3,200 [MM] of debt and capital leases. In addition, AB Acquisition also assumed the underfunded status of NAI related share of the multiemployer pension plans to which the Company contributes. AB Acquisition's portion of the unfunded status of the multiemployer pension plans was estimated to be approximately $1,138 [MM] before tax, based on the Company's estimated "proportionate share" of underfunding calculated as of February 23, 2013.
the Company entered into a Tender Offer Agreement (the "Tender Offer Agreement") with Symphony Investors, LLC, owned by a Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. ("Cerberus")-led investor consortium ("Symphony Investors") and Cerberus, pursuant to which, upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the Tender Offer Agreement, and contingent upon the NAI Banner Sale, Symphony Investors tendered for up to 30 percent of the issued and outstanding common stock of the Company at a purchase price of $4.00 per share in cash (the "Tender Offer"). Approximately 12 [MM] shares were validly tendered, representing approximately 5.5 percent of the issued and outstanding shares at the time of the Tender Offer expiration on March 20, 2013. All shares that were validly tendered and not properly withdrawn were accepted for payment in accordance with the terms of Tender Offer. In addition, pursuant to the terms of the Tender Offer Agreement, on March 21, 2013, SUPERVALU issued approximately 42 [MM] additional shares of common stock (approximately 19.9 percent of outstanding shares prior to the share issuance) to Symphony Investors at the Tender Offer price per share of $4.00, resulting in $170 [MM] in cash proceeds to the Company, which brought Symphony Investors ownership percent to 21.2 percent after the share issuance. Cash proceeds from the share issuance provided additional cash inflows from financing activities of $170 [MM] during the first quarter of fiscal 2014, which were used to reduce outstanding borrowings under the ABL Facility described below. The share issuance will have a dilutive effect on future net earnings (loss) per share due to the additional 42 shares outstanding.
On December 5, 2016, Supervalu completed the sale of Supervalus Save-A-Lot business to SAL Acquisition Corp (f/k/a Smith Acquisition Corp), an affiliate of Onex Partners Managers LP, for a purchase price of $1,365 [million] in cash, subject to customary closing adjustments that reduced the purchase price by approximately $61. The sale of Save-A-Lot was completed pursuant to the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of October 16, 2016, by and among SAL Acquisition Corp, SAL Merger Sub Corp (f/k/a Smith Merger Sub Corp), a newly formed wholly owned subsidiary of the SAL Acquisition Corp, Supervalu and Moran Foods, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Supervalu prior to the sale. Concurrently with entering into the SAL Merger Agreement, Supervalu and Moran Foods also entered into a Separation Agreement pursuant to which, among other things, the assets and liabilities of the Save-A-Lot business were transferred to and assumed by Moran Foods prior to the completion of the sale. Also in connection with the completion of the sale, Supervalu and Moran Foods entered into a Services Agreement, whereby Supervalu is providing certain professional services to Save-A-Lot for a period of five years, on and subject to the terms and conditions set forth therein. The assets, liabilities, operating results, and cash flows of Save-A-Lot have been presented separately as discontinued operations in the Consolidated Financial Statements for all periods presented. In addition, discontinued operations include the results of operations and cash flows attributed to the assets and liabilities of the New Albertsons, Inc. business that Supervalu sold during fiscal 2013.