<p>Background:</p><p>The efficient market hypothesis states that it is not possible to consistently outperform the overall stock market by stock picking and market timing. This is because, in an efficient market, all stock prices are at their correct level, and there are no over- or undervalued stocks. Nevertheless, deviations from true price can occur according to the hypothesis, but when they do they are always random. Thus, the only way an investor can perform better than the overall stock market is by being lucky. However, the efficient market hypothesis is very controversial. It is often discussed within the area of modern financial theory and there are strong arguments both for and against it.</p><p>Purpose:</p><p>The purpose of this study was to investigate whether it is possible to outperform the overall stock market by investing in stocks that are undervalued according to the enterprise multiple (EV/EBITDA), and the price-earnings ratio.</p><p>Realization of the Study:</p><p>Portfolios were constructed based on information from five years, 2001 to 2005. Each year two portfolios were put together, one of them consisting of the six stocks with the lowest price-earnings ratio, and the other consisting of the six stocks with the lowest EV/EBITDA. Each portfolio was kept for one year and the unadjusted returns as well as the risk adjusted returns of the portfolios were compared to the returns on the two indexes OMXS30 and AFGX. The sample consisted of the 30 most traded stocks on the Nordic Stock Exchange in Stockholm 2006.</p><p>Conclusion:</p><p>The study shows that it is possible to outperform the overall stock market by investing in undervalued stocks according the price-earnings ratio and the EV/EBITDA. This indicates that the market is not efficient, even in its weak form.</p>

Background: The efficient market hypothesis states that it is not possible to consistently outperform the overall stock market by stock picking and market timing. This is because, in an efficient market, all stock prices are at their correct level, and there are no over- or undervalued stocks. Nevertheless, deviations from true price can occur according to the hypothesis, but when they do they are always random. Thus, the only way an investor can perform better than the overall stock market is by being lucky. However, the efficient market hypothesis is very controversial. It is often discussed within the area of modern financial theory and there are strong arguments both for and against it. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether it is possible to outperform the overall stock market by investing in stocks that are undervalued according to the enterprise multiple (EV/EBITDA), and the price-earnings ratio. Realization of the Study: Portfolios were constructed based on information from five years, 2001 to 2005. Each year two portfolios were put together, one of them consisting of the six stocks with the lowest price-earnings ratio, and the other consisting of the six stocks with the lowest EV/EBITDA. Each portfolio was kept for one year and the unadjusted returns as well as the risk adjusted returns of the portfolios were compared to the returns on the two indexes OMXS30 and AFGX. The sample consisted of the 30 most traded stocks on the Nordic Stock Exchange in Stockholm 2006. Conclusion: The study shows that it is possible to outperform the overall stock market by investing in undervalued stocks according the price-earnings ratio and the EV/EBITDA. This indicates that the market is not efficient, even in its weak form.

本研究以1992年至2017年計19,710筆台灣上市櫃公司為樣本，探討以企業乘數與資本報酬率為指標形成投資組合的績效表現與可行性。研究發現單純以低企業乘數指標組成的投資組合表現最佳，且能長期打敗大盤；以低企業乘數與高資本報酬率的綜合指標形成的投資組合表現次佳；而單純以高資本報酬率為指標形成的投資組合表現最差，且長期劣於大盤表現。研究結果亦包括企業乘數投資組合可以創造出顯著的超額報酬（Alpha），且其優異的表現可以歸因於投資人對於企業的未來盈餘表現預期錯誤，造成市場暫時出現錯誤定價的現象。 / We employ Taiwan’s listed companies from 1992 to 2017 as a sample to examine the performance and feasibility of forming a portfolio based on enterprise multiple and return on invested capital. We find that the portfolio which consists solely of low enterprise multiple stocks outperform the market in the long run; the portfolio formed by composite indicators of low enterprise multiple and high return on invested capital beats the market as well; while the pure high return on invested capital portfolio underperforms. We also find that the low-minus-high enterprise multiple portfolio generates Fama-French alpha, and its excellent performance can be attributed to investors' expectation errors of the company's future earnings performance, resulting in temporary market mispricing.