On the four Ms, Fortune Brands Innovations I earns 76 for management and 15 for moat. The management score rests on a return on invested capital of 8.4% and a gross margin of 44.6% — figures that describe a business earning a respectable return on what it employs. Debt sits at 1.07x equity. A narrow moat alongside strong management is a combination worth understanding before the price matters at all.
The price anchors are built on deliberately conservative assumptions. Growth is modelled at 4.3% a year, the rate measured from the filings. The exit multiple assumed is 8.5x. That produces an intrinsic value of $3.94, a 10-CAP price of $35.92 and a payback time price of $34.84, with the value zone set at the highest of the three, $35.92. Today's price of $38.52 sits 7% above it.
The price is above the value zone and the business scores 15 for moat and 76 for management. Neither test argues for paying up here.
| Price | $38.52 |
| Market cap | $4.6B |
| P/E ratio | 31.3x |
| Return on invested capital | 8.4% |
| Gross margin | 44.6% |
| Debt to equity | 1.07x |
| Free cash flow yield | 5.9% |
| Growth rate used | 4.3% |
| Growth rate measured | 4.0% |
| Exit multiple assumed | 8.5x |
| Company | Moat | Buy price |
| Trex Company Inc (TREX) | 64 | $25.60 |
| Builders FirstSource (BLDR) | 57 | $91.50 |
| Armstrong World Industries (AWI) | 88 | $90.70 |
| Simpson Manufacturing Co Inc (SSD) | 82 | $175.30 |
Every number above is built on assumptions that can be changed. In Moatly you can move the growth rate, the exit multiple and the margin of safety and watch every figure recalculate, so you are testing your own view of Fortune Brands Innovations I rather than accepting ours.