Low on average earnings
cheap on years of profit, not one
Cheap on several years of average profit, with a healthy payout, little debt and a high average ROCE.
On 6 Nov 2026, the Low on average earnings screen finds 19 companies on NSE and BSE. To pass, a company needs: Price to average earnings below 15; Average dividend payout 3years above 20%; Debt to equity below 0.2; and 1 more condition. The largest industry groups are Oil Gas & Consumable Fuels (5) and Automobile and Auto Components (2) out of 19 companies, with a median market cap of ₹3,457 Cr and a median P/E of 13.0×. Sorted by Price to average earnings (lowest first), the first three are Cravatex, GHCL and N G Industries; 1,501 other companies could not be tested because data was missing.
Benjamin Graham warned against valuing a company on one year’s profit, which can be flattered by a good year. This screen divides market cap by the average yearly profit across every year on record and keeps companies below 15 times.
It also asks for an average dividend payout above 20% over three years, debt below a fifth of equity, and an average return on capital employed above 20%.
19 companies pass
| 30 days | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 335.00 | 4.6 | 23.9% | 0.02 | 24.1% | 10.1 | 87 | ||
| 417.10 | 5.1 | 21.2% | 0.02 | 25.8% | 7.1 | 3,843 | ||
| 100.15 | 5.9 | 35.3% | 0.05 | 20.3% | 17.4 | 34 | ||
| 400.00 | 7.3 | 46.1% | 0.12 | 25.0% | 7.4 | 2,46,509 | ||
| 281.80 | 8.7 | 49.9% | 0.04 | 26.7% | 10.2 | 221 | ||
| 1,441.80 | 9.0 | 134.5% | 0.16 | 32.1% | 3.8 | 21,470 | ||
| 384.70 | 10.4 | 21.5% | 0.16 | 21.4% | 8.1 | 15,413 | ||
| 215.99 | 10.5 | 36.7% | 0.09 | 21.1% | 12.2 | 3,457 | ||
| 628.65 | 11.0 | 20.9% | 0.01 | 24.7% | 16.5 | 1,655 | ||
| 1,129.60 | 11.3 | 28.4% | 0.03 | 23.3% | 16.9 | 11,158 | ||
| 141.97 | 11.5 | 33.3% | 0.01 | 21.6% | 19.9 | 19,876 | ||
| 100.00 | 11.6 | 36.5% | 0.09 | 22.1% | 41.3 | 82 | ||
| 946.70 | 12.7 | 108.2% | 0.06 | 51.8% | 14.9 | 1,413 | ||
| 317.00 | 12.8 | 39.1% | 0.09 | 22.9% | 10.3 | 47,550 | ||
| 595.45 | 13.9 | 34.4% | 0.01 | 20.9% | 15.2 | 23,466 | ||
| 940.95 | 14.2 | 22.8% | 0.01 | 24.6% | 12.6 | 415 | ||
| 404.70 | 14.8 | 57.1% | 0.03 | 29.0% | 13.0 | 1,437 | ||
| 1,596.90 | 14.9 | 29.4% | 0.01 | 23.6% | 13.8 | 2,413 | ||
19ITCITC | 283.15 | 14.9 | 78.9% | 0.01 | 35.7% | 18.8 | 3,54,841 | |
| Median of 19 | – | 11.3 | 35.3% | 0.03 | 24.1% | 13.0 | 3,457 |
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