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Should You Be Adding CoreCard (NYSE:CCRD) To Your Watchlist Today?

The excitement of investing in a company that can reverse its fortunes is a big draw for some speculators, so even companies that have no revenue, no profit, and a record of falling short, can manage to find investors. But the reality is that when a company loses money each year, for long enough, its investors will usually take their share of those losses. Loss making companies can act like a sponge for capital - so investors should be cautious that they're not throwing good money after bad.

Despite being in the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, many investors still adopt a more traditional strategy; buying shares in profitable companies like CoreCard (NYSE:CCRD). Now this is not to say that the company presents the best investment opportunity around, but profitability is a key component to success in business.

See our latest analysis for CoreCard

CoreCard's Earnings Per Share Are Growing

Generally, companies experiencing growth in earnings per share (EPS) should see similar trends in share price. That makes EPS growth an attractive quality for any company. It certainly is nice to see that CoreCard has managed to grow EPS by 19% per year over three years. As a general rule, we'd say that if a company can keep up that sort of growth, shareholders will be beaming.

It's often helpful to take a look at earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins, as well as revenue growth, to get another take on the quality of the company's growth. CoreCard shareholders can take confidence from the fact that EBIT margins are up from 25% to 30%, and revenue is growing. That's great to see, on both counts.

In the chart below, you can see how the company has grown earnings and revenue, over time. For finer detail, click on the image.

earnings-and-revenue-history
earnings-and-revenue-history

CoreCard isn't a huge company, given its market capitalisation of US$296m. That makes it extra important to check on its balance sheet strength.

Are CoreCard Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

It's a necessity that company leaders act in the best interest of shareholders and so insider investment always comes as a reassurance to the market. Shareholders will be pleased by the fact that insiders own CoreCard shares worth a considerable sum. Given insiders own a significant chunk of shares, currently valued at US$84m, they have plenty of motivation to push the business to succeed. That holding amounts to 28% of the stock on issue, thus making insiders influential owners of the business and aligned with the interests of shareholders.

It's good to see that insiders are invested in the company, but are remuneration levels reasonable? Well, based on the CEO pay, you'd argue that they are indeed. Our analysis has discovered that the median total compensation for the CEOs of companies like CoreCard with market caps between US$100m and US$400m is about US$1.6m.

The CoreCard CEO received total compensation of just US$754k in the year to December 2021. That's clearly well below average, so at a glance that arrangement seems generous to shareholders and points to a modest remuneration culture. CEO compensation is hardly the most important aspect of a company to consider, but when it's reasonable, that gives a little more confidence that leadership are looking out for shareholder interests. It can also be a sign of good governance, more generally.

Does CoreCard Deserve A Spot On Your Watchlist?

If you believe that share price follows earnings per share you should definitely be delving further into CoreCard's strong EPS growth. If you still have your doubts, remember too that company insiders have a considerable investment aligning themselves with the shareholders and CEO pay is quite modest compared to similarly sized companiess. Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to investing but it definitely makes CoreCard look rather interesting indeed. Now, you could try to make up your mind on CoreCard by focusing on just these factors, or you could also consider how its price-to-earnings ratio compares to other companies in its industry.

The beauty of investing is that you can invest in almost any company you want. But if you prefer to focus on stocks that have demonstrated insider buying, here is a list of companies with insider buying in the last three months.

Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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