Paychex Inc. is scored 80 for moat and 100 for management. The management score rests on a return on invested capital of 20.4% and a gross margin of 74.3% — figures that describe a business turning capital into profit efficiently. Debt sits at 1.24x equity.
Three independent anchors set the price worth paying. Growth is modelled at 9.9% a year, the rate measured from the filings. The exit multiple assumed is 19.9x. That produces an intrinsic value of $63.61, a 10-CAP price of $58.53 and a payback time price of $73.39, with the value zone set at the highest of the three, $73.39. Today's price of $100.84 is 37% above it.
The operating figures describe a business performing at a high level; the price asks for that performance to continue and then some. A margin of safety score of 32 is the measure of how little room that leaves for being wrong.
| Price | $100.84 |
| Market cap | $35.9B |
| P/E ratio | 20.0x |
| Return on invested capital | 20.4% |
| Gross margin | 74.3% |
| Debt to equity | 1.24x |
| Free cash flow yield | 6.3% |
| Growth rate used | 9.9% |
| Growth rate measured | 10.0% |
| Exit multiple assumed | 19.9x |
| Company | Moat | Buy price |
| United Airlines Holdings (UAL) | 55 | $215.31 |
| Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) | 55 | $61.58 |
| Axon Enterprise (AXON) | 61 | $36.18 |
| EMCOR Group, Inc. (EME) | 90 | $405.42 |
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 Paychex Inc. rather than accepting ours.