Sigma-Aldrich (Nasdaq:SIAL)

Sigma-Aldrich is an American company based in St. Louis, Missouri and founded in 1975. Its principal sector of activity is production and marketing of products and equipment for biological and chemical scientific researchPresent in 40 countries and with 7,600 employees, it synthesizes most of the chemical products it markets.  Sigma-Aldrich has one million customers worldwide, with 24% of sales in the United States, 43% in Europe and 22% in Canada, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. (source Wikipedia)

Despite his relatively young age, la société verse des growing dividends depuis déjà 29 ans, ce qui pourrait faire pâlir d'envie des vieux briscards comme Chevron ou IBM. La croissance annuelle des distributions est par ailleurs soutenue, avec 12.08%. Même si la progression du bénéfice par action est légèrement inférieure, le distribution ratio remains at extremely low levels, at 20.73%. The performance on the other hand is low, at 1.13%, which makes us say that the title is overvalued at the moment. This is confirmed by a price/earnings ratio of 20.6.

There volatility en CHF par contre est intéressante, à 12.35%, ce qui est peu pour une entreprise cotée au Nasdaq. The stock has a pronounced defensive and acyclical character, sous-performant par exemple le marché durant la bulle techno, mais survolant les débats dès son éclatement. Le beta de 0.88 confirme cette sensibilité limitée de SIAL par rapport au marché. Comme beaucoup de titres défensifs que nous suivons, Sigma-Aldrich a su tirer parti de la "décennie perdue" 2000-2010, ce qui explique aussi sa survalorisation actuelle. Notons que depuis 1990 le cours de l'action a pris 900%, battant le marché à plates coutures.

The stock's low volatility in CHF terms is also due to its inverse sensitivity to dollar exchange rate effects. This is due to the sector of activity (raw materials in the chemical industry), but also to the very significant share of exports, with more than 3/4 of sales outside the United States. It is precisely this inverse sensitivity to the greenback that led us to follow SIAL.

In conclusion, Sigma-Aldrich has almost everything we're looking for right now: a long history of growing dividends, with a sustained rate of increase and good earnings coverage. Volatility is low, and the stock offers a good hedge against changes in the dollar. Unfortunately, SIAL is currently overvalued, resulting in a low dividend yield. For this reason, we are keeping a close eye on the stock, in anticipation of a more attractive valuation.