Is Now The Time To Put Colefax Group (LON:CFX) On Your Watchlist?

Investors are often guided by the idea of discovering 'the next big thing', even if that means buying 'story stocks' without any revenue, let alone profit. But as Peter Lynch said in One Up On Wall Street, 'Long shots almost never pay off.' A loss-making company is yet to prove itself with profit, and eventually the inflow of external capital may dry up.

So if this idea of high risk and high reward doesn't suit, you might be more interested in profitable, growing companies, like Colefax Group (LON:CFX). 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.

View our latest analysis for Colefax Group

How Fast Is Colefax Group Growing?

If you believe that markets are even vaguely efficient, then over the long term you'd expect a company's share price to follow its earnings per share (EPS) outcomes. So it makes sense that experienced investors pay close attention to company EPS when undertaking investment research. To the delight of shareholders, Colefax Group has achieved impressive annual EPS growth of 40%, compound, over the last three years. While that sort of growth rate isn't sustainable for long, it certainly catches the eye of prospective investors.

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. The good news is that Colefax Group is growing revenues, and EBIT margins improved by 5.2 percentage points to 12%, over the last year. Ticking those two boxes is a good sign of growth, in our book.

The chart below shows how the company's bottom and top lines have progressed over time. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.

Since Colefax Group is no giant, with a market capitalisation of UK£64m, you should definitely check its cash and debt before getting too excited about its prospects.

Are Colefax Group Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

It should give investors a sense of security owning shares in a company if insiders also own shares, creating a close alignment their interests. Colefax Group followers will find comfort in knowing that insiders have a significant amount of capital that aligns their best interests with the wider shareholder group. As a matter of fact, their holding is valued at UK£20m. This considerable investment should help drive long-term value in the business. Those holdings account for over 31% of the company; visible skin in the game.

Is Colefax Group Worth Keeping An Eye On?

Colefax Group's earnings per share have been soaring, with growth rates sky high. That sort of growth is nothing short of eye-catching, and the large investment held by insiders should certainly brighten the view of the company. At times fast EPS growth is a sign the business has reached an inflection point, so there's a potential opportunity to be had here. Based on the sum of its parts, we definitely think its worth watching Colefax Group very closely. It is worth noting though that we have found 1 warning sign for Colefax Group that you need to take into consideration.

There's always the possibility of doing well buying stocks that are not growing earnings and do not have insiders buying shares. But for those who consider these important metrics, we encourage you to check out companies that do have those features. You can access a free list of them here.

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

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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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