Wednesday, February 11, 2009

WWE Wrestling

Ok as risk to my credibility I am pushing an entertainment stock as a long term value investment, and not just any entertainment stock but WWE Wrestling!
Why, if you are a value investor, you should buy:
#1 They have no debt! This is always a good thing, and with a price to book ratio of 1.80 that means even if the company went into bankruptcy, which i strongly believe they are in no danger of doing, this means you would lose less than half of what you put into it. They have a Price to earnings ratio of 12.50, which in historical terms is a low valuation. And perhaps the most attractive thing of all is that their dividend yeild is over 15%. Now a prudent investor would say that level is too high and in danger of a cut, however WWE came out today and said that they will not cut their dividend (great if true!). I think that it is realistic that they will continue their dividend as they offer a quality product that people are "addicted" to, people continue to watch their product every week, and they run shows 3 nights per week. The reason that their stock has been battered down over the past year is that they have been hurt just like every other entertainment industry. No one is completely immune, and the biggest losses the WWE has taken our in their Pay Per View buyrates. And this may prove to be their biggest flaw; WWE runs PPVs once a month, and sometimes even sooner, at $30 a clip it is an expensive hobby for most people and one that is the first to be cast off. What they would be smart in doing is cutting back the number of PPV events and raising the price on the remaining one's (creates more of an interest in the product). Their TV ratings have been consistant for the past 10 years, and they have little to no competition (some argue UFC has taken away some of their demographic, I don'y see why, WWE is a men's soap opera, very few people would consider it an actually sport give that its cheorgraphed). This company has alot of things going for them and their is no reason to think that their dominance in the field of "sports entertainment" will change over time. As a matter of fact, with the success of the movie The Wrestler it is possible that wrestling today appeals to an even broader swath of society.

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