High Beta Stocks

TWe often hear the word beta in the context of “beta test”. It’s a way of testing something (e.g. a software program) in a real-world situation to iron out any glitches before rolling it out to the public.

In the context of investing, understanding beta also serves a predictive function. Specifically, knowing a stock’s beta can help investors understand why a company may be performing or underperforming. In this way, beta can help investors predict how a stock is likely to perform before they buy the stock.

This article will define beta and key terms to help investors understand beta. We’ll also review the difference between provided beta and personally calculated beta, what beta indicates, and how to use beta to diversify a portfolio. And finally, we’ll look at a couple of limitations to beta.

Beta is a Measurement of Volatility That Supports Fundamental and Technical Indicators

Beta measures the relative volatility of a stock in correlation to a particular standard. For U.S. stocks that standard is usually, but not always, the S&P 500. Beta can also be used by investors to evaluate a particular stock’s expected rate of return, particularly when using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAMP).

Beta is a form of regression analysis and it can be useful for investors regardless of their risk tolerance. Beta is considered one of the few data points that can be beneficial for practitioners of fundamental analysis and technical analysis. Investors who tend to analyze stocks using fundamental analysis will use beta along with price-to-earnings ratio, shareholders equity, debt-to-equity ratio and other factors. Technical analysts will use beta as an indicator of stocks that offer the price movement they are seeking. They will use beta along with other indicators such as average daily trading volume (ADTV) and a stock’s moving average.

What is the Formula for Calculating Beta?

Investing websites like MarketBeat give investors access to many company’s financial metrics. This means that investors do not typically need to calculate beta for themselves. But it’s still helpful to understand the meaning of two variables that are used in the formula for beta. These variables are covariance and variance.

• Covariance is a measurement of how two stocks move together. If the number is positive it means the price movement is generally correlated (i.e. when one stock goes up, so does the other and vice versa). If the number is negative, it means the price movement is generally not correlated (i.e. when one stock goes up, the other goes down and vice versa).
• Variance is a measurement of how far a stock moves in relation to its mean. In the case of beta, the mean is whatever benchmark is being used.

What Are the Variables in “Provided Beta” Calculations?

In many cases, a financial website will give what’s known as the “provided beta” for a particular stock. For active traders, financial software programs will also provide the beta value. When using a provided beta, investors should pay attention to two variables.

First, it’s important to understand what benchmark is being used to determine beta. Since the beta shows a correlation between a particular security and something, an investor needs to know what that something is. As pointed out above, for U.S. stocks it is common for beta to be expressed as a correlation to a stock index, usually the S&P 500, but not always. In some cases, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) may be used, or even the NASDAQ.

The second thing an investor will need to know about a stock’s beta is the time frame that is being measured. If you’re a long-term investor, you may want to know the beta over several years. If you’re an active trader, you’ll probably be more interested in the beta over a much more recent timeframe.

A personally calculated beta, on the other hand, is one that investors will calculate for themselves. To calculate beta, investors will have to know the covariance between the return of the stock being analyzed and the return of the benchmark for that stock as well as the variance of the market returns.

As we mentioned above, many financial software programs will do the calculation for you. It is also possible to use an Excel spreadsheet to calculate beta. For many investors, particularly those who are engaging in day trading, a personally calculated beta may be more accurate for their needs.