Before You Buy TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST), Consider Its Volatility

Simply Wall St - finance.yahoo.com Posted 5 years ago
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If you own shares in TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST) then it's worth thinking about how it contributes to the volatility of your portfolio, overall. In finance, Beta is a measure of volatility. Volatility is considered to be a measure of risk in modern finance theory. Investors may think of volatility as falling into two main categories. The first type is company specific volatility. Investors use diversification across uncorrelated stocks to reduce this kind of price volatility across the portfolio. The other type, which cannot be diversified away, is the volatility of the entire market. Every stock in the market is exposed to this volatility, which is linked to the fact that stocks prices are correlated in an efficient market.

Some stocks see their prices move in concert with the market. Others tend towards stronger, gentler or unrelated price movements. Beta is a widely used metric to measure a stock's exposure to market risk (volatility). Before we go on, it's worth noting that Warren Buffett pointed out in his 2014 letter to shareholders that 'volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' Having said that, beta can still be rather useful. The first thing to understand about beta is that the beta of the overall market is one. A stock with a beta below one is either less volatile than the market, or more volatile but not corellated with the overall market. In comparison a stock with a beta of over one tends to be move in a similar direction to the market in the long term, but with greater changes in price.

See our latest analysis for TrustCo Bank Corp NY

What TRST's beta value tells investors

Given that it has a beta of 1.11, we can surmise that the TrustCo Bank Corp NY share price has been fairly sensitive to market volatility (over the last 5 years). If the past is any guide, we would expect that TrustCo Bank Corp NY shares will rise quicker than the markets in times of optimism, but fall faster in times of pessimism. Many would argue that beta is useful in position sizing, but fundamental metrics such as revenue and earnings are more important overall. You can see TrustCo Bank Corp NY's revenue and earnings in the image below.

NasdaqGS:TRST Income Statement, May 3rd 2019
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Could TRST's size cause it to be more volatile?

TrustCo Bank Corp NY is a small company, but not tiny and little known. It has a market capitalisation of US$776m, which means it would be on the radar of intstitutional investors. It is quite common to see a small-cap stock with a beta greater than one. In part, that's because relatively few investors can influence the price of a smaller company, compared to a large company.

What this means for you:

Since TrustCo Bank Corp NY tends to moves up when the market is going up, and down when it's going down, potential investors may wish to reflect on the overall market, when considering the stock. In order to fully understand whether TRST is a good investment for you, we also need to consider important company-specific fundamentals such as TrustCo Bank Corp NY’s financial health and performance track record. I highly recommend you dive deeper by considering the following:

  1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for TRST’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for TRST’s outlook.
  2. Past Track Record: Has TRST been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of TRST's historicals for more clarity.
  3. Other Interesting Stocks: It's worth checking to see how TRST measures up against other companies on valuation. You could start with this free list of prospective options.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at [email protected]. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.