Ryan International

In the world of skateboard attire, instinct and marketing savvy are prerequisites to success. Moogy Ellis had both. During 2020, his international skateboarding company, Ryan, rocketed to $900 million in sales after 10 years in business. His fashion line covered the skateboarders from head to toe with hats, shirts, pants, shorts, sweatshirts, socks, and shoes. In L.A., there was a Ryan shop every five or six blocks, each featuring a different color. Some shops showed the entire line in mauve, and others featured it in canary yellow.

Ryan had made it. The companys historical growth was so spectacular that no one could have predicted it. However, securities analysts speculated that Ryan could not keep up the pace. They warned that competition is fierce in the fad fashion industry and that the firm might encounter little or no growth in the future. They estimated that stockholders also should expect no growth in future dividends.

Contrary to the conservative securities analysts, Moogy Ellis feels that the company could maintain a constant annual growth rate in dividends per share of 9.5% in the future, or possibly 13% for the next 2 years and 9.5% thereafter. Ellis based his estimates on an established long-term expansion plan into European and Latin American markets. Venturing into these markets was expected to cause the risk of the firm, as measured by the beta on its stock, to increase immediately from 1.1 to 1.25.

In preparing the long-term financial plan, Ryans chief financial officer has assigned a junior financial analyst, Brad Harris, to evaluate the firms current stock price. He has asked Brad to consider the conservative predictions of the securities analysts and the aggressive predictions of the company founder, Moogy Ellis.

Mark has compiled these 2020 financial data to aid his analysis:

Data item		2020 value
Earnings per share (EPS)		$4.13
Price per share of common stock		$39.00
Book value of common stock equity		$60,000,000
Total common shares outstanding		3,000,000
Common stock dividend per share		$2.05
Data Points
Beta, b	Required Return, K
0	4.5%
.25	6.75%
.5	9%
.75	11.25%
1	13.5%
1.25	15.75%
1.5	18%

-Questions:

f. Compare the current (2020) price of the stock and the stock values found in parts a, d, and e. Discuss why these values may differ. Which valuation method do you believe most clearly represents the true value of the Ryan stock?