This stock is one of my mainstay holdings and has dropped from $44/s last Septemeber
to $34/s down ~23% -- which really irks me needless to say. Why has this happened?
The answer is not totally obvious but there are some clues. The company has also gone out of its way to conceal information about the ~$800 million share issue in 2022. (just try to find info about it - good luck!).
1) In September 2022 they issued 21,11584 common shares -which represented about a 10% dilution (but the stock dropped 23%).
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2) NPI has a number of major projects on tap: they basically come on-stream in 2-3 years. Therefore there is no immediate reward or payback from the new share issue and-- who knows how the world will unfold over the next 2-3 years. Considerable uncertainty and higher risk before any payback!!!
3) The dividend is crappy +3% --- @ 10 cents per share/month but the payout is higher now with the new shares: Since they are such terrible planners the diviend could also be cut!
4) If companies issue equity to cover finance their undertakings -(all already in progress in this case) - it is considered a sign of poor management and planning by key investors
5) The stock is held by 238 institutions - the largest S/H has 4 million shares. Why the deafening silence??
Conclusion - The 10% dilution understandably drove the share price down but the bigger factor is the investment community has lost confidence in the company and management.
In these kinds of situations, S/Hs should demand a change at the top --