Ben Graham, widely regarded as the founder of contemporary investment theory, initially proposed the notion of a margin of safety in investing. The comfort level or cushion that an investor has in stock when he buys it at a given price is the margin of safety.
The margin of safety is derived using the stock’s intrinsic value. The effect of financial and non-financial components is combined to arrive at the ultimate valuation.
It’s usually calculated by discounting future cash flows and then correcting for the P/E ratio of peers and other qualitative considerations.
When compared to the stock’s current market price, the intrinsic value is genuinely relevant. The margin of safety is the difference between the market price and the intrinsic value.
From the perspective of an investor, if the market price is significantly lower than the intrinsic value, the stock has a strong margin of safety and is a solid stock that is accessible for investment at a reasonable price.
On the other side, if the market price is significantly higher, it provides a large margin of safety for a seller to sell or short the stock. Although the term is commonly used to refer to a scenario when equities are substantially undervalued, the margin of safety works both ways.
What is the significance of margin of safety?
The majority of appraisals depend on a set of assumptions. While the majority of these assumptions have been empirically validated, they might still be incorrect. As a result, a bigger margin of safety will guarantee that you are shielded from such valuation divergences.
How much of a safety margin is enough?
The extent of the margin of safety is mostly determined by the preferences of investors and the sort of investment plan they adopt. It is also influenced by the investor’s risk appetite and the risk grade of the company in question.
A value investor, for example, would like a margin of safety of over 50%, but an aggressive risk profile investor might be satisfied with a 10%-20% margin of safety.
To summarize, it pays to be cautious and weigh unwanted risks against projected profits. One can reduce the risk of wealth disappearing by employing the margin of safety idea and refusing to pay too much for an investment.
We don’t have to aim for perfection all the time as investors. It is sufficient to be nearly correct while maintaining a decent margin of safety to complete the task.
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