Tribune Media Company (TRCO) came through a screener I ran where the conditions were pretty stringent regarding the financials. The company's book multiple at present is 1.0 which is well off the industry average of 1.4. In fact, in the company's recent quarter, the company reported equity of $3.35 billion. Presently Tribune's present market cap is just under $3.2 billion, so we are off to a good start.
Why? Well as equity markets continue to charge higher, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find quality companies which are trading lower than their intrinsic value. Buying out of favor stocks does one thing. It gives the investor a margin of safety. Now many growth stocks (especially in tech and semiconductors) have vastly outperformed the "value" sector over the past few years. History has told us though that this divergence will not continue.
Nobody knows when this inflection point will occur, but it will happen. That's why the likes of Tribune should do well over the long term as long as the investor is patient. Let's take a look at why Tribune looks like an attractive value play at present and also at that dividend which also could be a calling card for value investors.
