The Value Line Investment Survey: A Guide To Profitable Stock Picks

The Value Line Investment Survey is a popular investment research service that provides comprehensive information and analysis on stocks, mutual funds, options, and other securities. It offers both classic print and digital services, giving subscribers access to a wealth of resources for evaluating stocks and making informed investment decisions. The core of the Value Line Investment Survey is its extensive database, which covers the most actively traded stocks on North American exchanges across over 90 industries, representing approximately 90% of the total U.S. stock market capitalization. This database is continuously updated and includes detailed financial data, price projections, and expert analyst commentary. The service also provides subscribers with tools such as data modules, stock screeners, watchlists, alerts, and model portfolios, empowering them to conduct in-depth research and make profitable investment choices.

Using Value Line's Ranking System to determine a stock's worth

Value Line is an investment research company that collects data and analyses the performance of thousands of stocks, mutual funds, and securities. Its Investment Survey is one of the most widely read investment services in the world.

The Value Line Ranking System is a key ingredient in its service offering. It uses a performance-proven ranking system to help investors make decisions with confidence. The system ranks approximately 1,700 stocks relative to each other for price performance during the next six to 12 months. It also measures the total risk of a stock relative to the approximately 1,700 other stocks in the Value Line Investment Survey.

The Ranking System for Timeliness™ ranks stocks from 1 (highest) to 5 (lowest). A rank of 1 denotes that a stock is expected to outperform the rest of the Value Line universe in the next six to 12 months. Relative earnings and price growth over the past 10 years is a major factor in the Timeliness Ranking. Companies whose earnings growth has been greater than the increase in their stock prices tend to be ranked 1 or 2.

The Ranking System for Safety™ measures the total risk of a stock relative to the other stocks in the Value Line Investment Survey. It is derived from a stock's Price Stability Index and the Financial Strength rating of a company. Safety ranks are also given on a scale from 1 (safest) to 5 (riskiest).

The Value Line Technical Rank is designed to predict stock price movements over a three-to-six-month period. Stocks are ranked from 1 (highest) to 5 (lowest). This rank is based on price movement factors and should be considered alongside the Timeliness rank.

Value Line also publishes Industry ranks, which show the Timeliness of each industry. These ranks are updated weekly and published on the front and inside pages of the Summary & Index.

The Value Line Investment Survey is available by subscription, with weekly updates on the financial markets, recommended portfolios, and developments involving covered securities. It is also available in some libraries.

How to use the Safety Rank to manage risk

The Value Line Investment Survey provides a Safety Rank to measure the total risk of a stock relative to approximately 1,700 other stocks in the survey. The Safety Rank is derived from a stock's Price Stability Index and the Financial Strength rating of a company, both of which can be found in the lower right-hand corner of each page in Value Line Ratings and Reports.

The Safety Rank is scored on a scale from 1 (Highest) to 5 (Lowest). A score of 1 indicates the stocks are the safest, most stable, and least risky investments relative to the Value Line universe. Conversely, a score of 5 indicates that the stocks are the riskiest and least safe.

The Safety Rank is an essential tool for investors to assess the risk associated with a particular stock and make informed investment decisions. It is recommended that investors use the Safety Rank in conjunction with the Timeliness Rank to effectively manage risk and maximise returns.

The Timeliness Rank predicts the relative price performance of a stock over the next six to twelve months. It is scored on the same scale as the Safety Rank, with 1 being the highest and 5 being the lowest. By combining the information from both ranks, investors can identify stocks that have a favourable combination of low risk and high price performance potential.

In addition to the Safety and Timeliness Ranks, Value Line also offers a Technical Rank, which predicts short-term stock price movements over a three to six-month period. This rank is also scored from 1 (Highest) to 5 (Lowest).

By utilising the Safety Rank, along with the Timeliness and Technical Ranks, investors can make more informed decisions about which stocks to invest in, minimising risk and optimising their investment portfolios.

Navigating Value Line's Dashboard

The Value Line Dashboard is the homepage of the Value Line Investment Survey, an investment research company that collects data and analyses the performance of stocks, mutual funds, and other securities. Here is a step-by-step guide to navigating the Value Line Dashboard:

• After logging in, you will arrive at the Dashboard. This can be identified by the dark menu bar at the top of the screen.
• Under the "Quick Links" section on the right side of the Dashboard, you will find some of Value Line's most used tools:
• VLIS Current Issue: Provides recent updates for individual stocks.
• Fund Advisor Plus: A starting point for basic financial planning, including goal assessment, risk understanding, and fund selection and evaluation.
• The New ETFs Service: Allows you to build custom stock screens and look up ETF reports.
• Summary & Index: Contains an index of all stocks in the Investment Survey, along with up-to-date statistics, to keep investors informed about the latest company results. It also includes stock screens to help investors identify companies that align with their investing goals.
• Selection & Opinion: This section is similar to the first 40 pages of the traditional print version of Value Line. It includes economic and stock market forecasts, write-ups about attractive stocks, model portfolios, and financial and stock market statistics.
• VLIS Rank Changes: Shows stocks whose Timeliness or Performance ranks have changed for the week.
• Next to the Dashboard tab is the "Browse Research" section. Here, you can find Value Line's Timeliness, Safety, and Technical ranks, along with financial and stock price forecasts for the next 3-5 years, analyst commentaries, and more.
• In the "Browse Research" section, you can enter a company name or ticker symbol in the search box to access research reports for specific companies.
• You can hover over different modules, such as Ranks, Commentary, etc., to drag and drop or hide them according to your preferences.
• To view the traditional single-page company reports, click on "PDF Reports" in the upper-right corner of the screen.
• Above the PDF button, you will see horizontal bars that provide additional information about the stock, such as 52-week high and low prices, earnings per share estimates, and 3-5-year projections.
• The "Markets" section offers daily market updates, an economic calendar of important events, featured commentaries, and industry analysis.
• The "Find Ideas" section provides model portfolios, a portfolio tracker, a stock screener tool, and other resources to help you explore investment opportunities.
• The "Investment Education" section offers educational resources, including articles, instructional videos, a glossary, and Value Line University.
• Analyst reports can be found under the "Coverage Universe" section in the "Browse Research" area.
• Recent Timeliness Rank Updates and Recent Commentary Updates can be found under the "Value Line Featured Lists" section in the "Browse Research" tab.
• The "Summary & Index" section, accessible from the Dashboard's "Quick Links", provides an overview of the companies in the Investment Survey and helps investors stay informed about their performance.

By effectively navigating the Value Line Dashboard, investors can access a wealth of information and tools to make more informed investment decisions.

Utilising the digital data modules

The Value Line Investment Survey offers a broad array of investment research services. It provides a digital environment with data modules that can be utilised to gain a deep and nuanced perspective on both a macro and micro level. These data modules can be moved and resized to reveal more or less data and features. You can create and save templates with modules sized and organised as per your preference.

The data modules offer a wealth of information, including full-page stock reports with detailed current and historical financial data, 3-to-5-year price and earnings projections, 18-month target price ranges, and unbiased commentaries from expert analysts. Additionally, you can create and save your own Stock Screener with up to 10 saved searches and 50 companies displayed per results list.

Another feature of the digital data modules is the Watchlist, where you can save up to 3 watchlists with 15 securities per watchlist. You can also set alerts in four critical categories: price/volume, valuation, ranks and ratings, and analyst updates for up to 25 companies. The charting feature allows you to layer up to 11 indicators and save up to 5 charts for future reference.

The digital data modules provide a comprehensive toolkit for investors to make informed decisions, conduct in-depth research, and stay updated with the latest information and insights provided by Value Line.

Understanding the information in the full-page stock reports

The full-page stock reports of the Value Line Investment Survey are packed with detailed current and historical financial data, 3-to-5-year price and earnings projections, an 18-month target price range, and commentaries from expert analysts. The reports are designed to help subscribers make profitable investment decisions.

The reports cover approximately 1,700 stocks, representing 90% of U.S. trading volume, and are updated weekly. They include an analyst's report, providing an overview of the company, a review of its financial health, and a recommendation regarding its attractiveness to investors. The data portion of the report offers a detailed statistical analysis, including a price target, transactions by company officials and institutions, a chart of historical returns, sales figures, earnings data, and more.

One of the most useful features of the reports, especially for novice investors, is the ranking system. Every stock in the survey is ranked on a scale of one to five in three areas: timeliness, safety, and technical. A rank of one indicates a stock expected to outperform the rest of the Value Line universe. Timeliness refers to performance expectations for the next six to 12 months, safety compares price stability, and the technical ranking compares 10 price trends for a three to six-month period.

In addition to the full-page stock reports, the Value Line Investment Survey also offers a range of tools and resources, including model portfolios, a stock screener tool, and a portfolio tracker. The survey can be accessed via a subscription, which costs $598 for a year, or through some libraries that offer it as a free service to their patrons.

Frequently asked questions