WES share price in focus
Founded in 1914, Wesfarmers is a diversified Australian conglomerate headquartered in Perth. Its operations span retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety brands and products across Australia and New Zealand.
Wesfarmers is often compared to a publicly listed private equity firm. It has a long history of buying businesses, leveraging their cash flow, re-investing in growth and eventually selling them for a premium. A notable example of this is Coles Group, which it bought in 2007 and spun out in 2018. However, the biggest contributor (by a long way) to the company’s operating profit is Bunnings, the #1 hardware and home improvement business in Australia. Wesfarmers began buying parcels in Bunnings in 1987, eventually acquiring the final 52% in 1994 for $594 million.
Wesfarmers has long been considered a leading blue chip stock on the ASX and is known for paying a consistent dividend. Other well-known brands under the Wesfarmers umbrella include Blackwoods, Kmart, Target, Officeworks, and Priceline Pharmacy.
FMG shares
Fortescue Ltd is an iron ore production and exploration company started by the well-known Australian polymath Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest. The company was founded in 2003 and has assets across the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Fortescue’s main operation is iron ore production, shipping more than 190 million tonnes annually. However, Fortescue has also been ramping up exploration activities for materials like copper, rare earths, and lithium. This exploration covers countries including Australia, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Kazakhstan.
This is all part of Fortescue’s long-term strategy to take advantage of the shift to renewable energy. Demand for copper, lithium, and other rare earths are expected to skyrocket with increasing battery and electric vehicle production and Fortescue intends to fill that demand.
WES & FMG share price valuation
We would consider WES to be a ‘mature’ or ‘blue-chip’ business, so some of the metrics that could be worth considering include the debt/equity ratio, average yield, and return on equity, or ROE. These measures give us a sense of the company’s debt levels, their ability to generate returns from their assets, and their ability to consistently return profits to shareholders.
For FY24, Wesfarmers Ltd reported a debt/equity ratio of 131.4%, meaning the company is leveraged (it has more debt than equity). This can increase risk so it’s important that a leveraged company is generating stable returns and has sufficient cash flow to pay interest on its debts.
Over the last 5 years, WES has delivered an average dividend yield of 3.4% per year. This is important to note if you’re looking for income from your investments.
Finally, in FY24, WES reported an ROE of 30.3%. For a mature business you generally want to see an ROE of more than 10%, so WES clears this hurdle.
As for Fortescue Ltd, they reported a debt/equity ratio of 27.6% in FY24, meaning the company has more equity than debt.
Since 2019 FMG has achieved an average dividend yield of 10.5% per year, and in FY24 reported an ROE of 30.2%
Keep in mind that these are only a small selection of metrics. We don’t have enough information to value the business or make an investment decision. To learn more about valuation, check out one of our free online investing courses.
