GRAHAM AND DODD STOCK SCREENER

NOTE: Please be careful in how you use the intrinsic value estimates shown here. Do not take them at face value. They are used here for a rough stock screening purposes only. A thorough analysis of each individual secutiry is needed before an investment decision is made.

Intrinsic value = x (Book value - Goodwill) + (Net income-Dividends)/% + (Dividends)/%

Margin of safety ≥ %                                    

Stocks Listed in the USA
Ticker   Company name
 Equity
$ mln
 Goodwill
$ mln
 Net income
(3-yr avg.)
$ mln
 Dividends
 (3-yr avg.)
$ mln
 Payout
ratio
%
 Dividend
yield
%
 Number of
shares
mln
 Stock
price
 $/share
 Intrinsic
value
 $/share
 Margin of
safety
$/share
 Margin of
safety
%
AAME 
 Atlantic American Co
 96
 2
1
0
0
0.7
22
2.75
4.42
1.67
61
ACI 
 Arch Coal Inc
 3578
 596
114
66
58
5
212
7.66
18.3
10.64
139
AEY 
 ADDvantage Technolog
 36
 2
3
0
0
0
10
2.25
4.8
2.55
113
AGO 
 Assured Guaranty Ltd
 4718
 0
452
30
7
1.4
182
12.87
39.12
26.25
204
AIR 
 AAR Corp.
 836
 134
57
1
2
0.5
40
14.05
24.63
10.58
75
AIRT 
 Air T, Inc.
 26
 0
3
1
33
3.4
2
9.57
18.78
9.21
96
AIZ 
 Assurant, Inc.
 4874
 639
416
69
17
2
92
36.55
72.3
35.75
98
AM 
 American Greetings C
 727
 0
75
22
29
4.3
38
14.43
31.63
17.2
119
AMIC 
 American Independenc
 94
 24
2
0
0
0
9
4.51
9.39
4.88
108
AMKR 
 Amkor Technology, In
 693
 0
160
0
0
0
186
4.49
8.03
3.54
79
AMP 
 Ameriprise Financial
 10255
 0
965
186
19
2
222
47.85
72.15
24.3
51
APL 
 Atlas Pipeline Partn
 1265
 0
206
49
24
6
54
31.30
47.37
16.07
51
ASI 
 American Safety Insu
 328
 9
22
0
0
0
10
17.95
41.33
23.38
130
ASYS 
 Amtech Systems, Inc.
 116
 13
10
0
0
0
9
4.60
16.14
11.54
251
AWH 
 Allied World Assuran
 3149
 268
515
28
5
0
38
76.81
148.28
71.47
93
AXTI 
 AXT, Inc.
 139
 0
12
1
8
1.3
32
3.88
6.35
2.47
64
AYR 
 Aircastle Limited
 1405
 0
98
36
37
5.4
72
11.61
28.72
17.11
147
BBEP 
 BreitBurn Energy Par
 1327
 0
13
65
500
10
59
17.38
29.08
11.7
67
BG 
 Bunge Limited
 11707
 893
1219
186
15
2
146
61.28
122.57
61.29
100
BGFV 
 Big 5 Sporting Goods
 157
 4
18
5
28
4.4
22
6.73
12.18
5.45
81
BHE 
 Benchmark Electronic
 1116
 38
62
0
0
0
58
14.25
24.03
9.78
69
BPO 
 Brookfield Office Pr
 10175
 0
925
305
33
3.8
503
17.48
32.45
14.97
86
BSET 
 Bassett Furniture In
 152
 0
10
1
10
0.6
11
10.22
18.37
8.15
80
BZ 
 Boise Inc.
 795
 162
97
27
28
6.3
106
7.13
11.77
4.64
65
CECO 
 Career Education Cor
 806
 213
86
0
0
0
76
6.42
13.49
7.07
110
CKH 
 Seacor Holdings, Inc
 1790
 65
143
107
75
0
21
86.27
142.14
55.87
65
CLD 
 Cloud Peak Energy In
 750
 36
202
0
0
0
61
15.82
28.3
12.48
79
CLRO 
 ClearOne Communicati
 40
 1
3
0
0
0
9
3.81
5.94
2.13
56
CMRG 
 Casual Male Retail G
 154
 0
21
0
0
0
48
2.94
5.34
2.4
82
CNTY 
 Century Casinos, Inc
 113
 5
5
0
0
0
24
2.98
5.57
2.59
87
COP 
 ConocoPhillips
 65224
 3332
9403
3213
34
5.4
1280
52.32
97.63
45.31
87
CPE 
 Callon Petroleum Com
 199
 0
53
0
0
0
39
4.55
11.78
7.23
159
CPLP 
 Capital Product Part
 517
 0
45
50
111
8.2
71
7.77
14.01
6.24
80
CQB 
 Chiquita Brands Inte
 800
 177
68
0
0
0
46
5.34
21.04
15.7
294
CSC 
 Computer Sciences Co
 7504
 4038
891
26
3
1.9
155
26.42
51.92
25.5
97
CTB 
 Cooper Tire & Ru
 578
 19
152
26
17
2.8
62
14.74
23.27
8.53
58
DBLE 
 Double Eagle Petrole
 94
 0
6
4
67
7.1
11
4.70
12.86
8.16
174
DDE 
 Dover Downs Gaming &
 113
 0
8
5
63
4.3
32
2.80
5.49
2.69
96
DLA 
 Delta Apparel, Inc.
 142
 17
12
0
0
0
8
14.32
21.89
7.57
53
DO 
 Diamond Offshore Dri
 4333
 0
1098
780
71
5.9
139
59.75
98.71
38.96
65
EBF 
 Ennis, Inc.
 360
 0
37
11
30
0
26
14.23
23.02
8.79
62
ESGR 
 Enstar Group Ltd.
 1386
 21
154
0
0
0
14
94.55
147.65
53.1
56
ETM 
 Entercom Communicati
 251
 39
40
0
0
0
38
5.02
10.77
5.75
115
ETR 
 Entergy Corporation
 9242
 377
1296
610
47
5.5
176
63.57
104.45
40.88
64
FFG 
 FBL Financial Group
 1278
 0
74
9
12
1.1
31
25.97
55.13
29.16
112
FRD 
 Friedman Industries
 59
 0
7
3
43
7
7
10.51
16.03
5.52
53
FRS 
 Frisch's Restaur
 126
 1
10
3
30
2.3
5
25.17
38.46
13.29
53
FVE 
 Five Star Quality Ca
 280
 15
42
0
0
0
48
3.06
9.92
6.86
224
GIGA 
 Giga-tronics, Incorp
 24
 0
5
0
0
0
5
1.07
9.76
8.69
812
GLW 
 Corning Incorporated
 21078
 664
2791
326
12
1.8
1520
12.92
23.68
10.76
83
GPRE 
 Green Plains Renewab
 505
 41
35
0
0
0
33
7.36
19.18
11.82
161
GSIT 
 GSI Technology, Inc.
 125
 0
13
0
0
0
28
4.22
6.81
2.59
61
GTS 
 Triple-S Management
 677
 25
65
0
0
0
29
17.46
34.2
16.74
96
GXP 
 Great Plains Energy
 2999
 169
179
113
63
4.2
136
20.30
31.52
11.22
55
HES 
 Hess Corp.
 18516
 2305
1523
133
9
0.9
340
44.24
72.05
27.81
63
HL 
 Hecla Mining Company
 1140
 0
89
5
6
0.9
285
3.74
5.64
1.9
51
IHC 
 Independence Holding
 261
 50
9
1
11
0.5
16
9.33
15.9
6.57
70
IM 
 Ingram Micro Inc.
 3273
 0
255
0
0
0
153
18.55
29.65
11.1
60
IMKTA 
 Ingles Markets, Inco
 432
 0
33
15
45
4
24
15.86
27.69
11.83
75
IPCC 
 Infinity Property an
 668
 75
68
8
12
1.4
12
52.78
82.25
29.47
56
ISH 
 International Shipho
 249
 0
30
12
40
8.2
7
18.65
64.29
45.64
245
ISIG 
 Insignia Systems, In
 28
 0
20
10
50
115.6
15
1.86
12.21
10.35
556
JCS 
 Communications Syste
 98
 6
9
5
56
5.6
8
10.65
19.13
8.48
80
JEF 
 Jefferies Group, Inc
 3224
 366
261
37
14
2.1
206
13.41
21.11
7.7
57
KCLI 
 Kansas City Life Ins
 711
 0
20
12
60
3.4
11
32.14
76.74
44.6
139
KEQU 
 Kewaunee Scientific
 31
 0
3
1
33
4.7
3
8.41
19.77
11.36
135
KFN 
 KKR Financial Holdin
 1676
 0
255
65
25
8.1
178
8.23
18.39
10.16
123
LNC 
 Lincoln National Cor
 14164
 2273
263
61
23
1
292
21.48
46.35
24.87
116
LPHI 
 Life Partners Holdin
 55
 0
25
12
48
47
19
2.21
12.87
10.66
482
MALL 
 PC Mall, Inc.
 111
 26
5
0
0
0
12
5.57
9.14
3.57
64
MAXY 
 Maxygen, Inc.
 161
 0
29
10
34
0.2
28
5.93
12.67
6.74
114
MCY 
 Mercury General Corp
 1857
 43
249
130
52
5.4
55
44.60
67.58
22.98
52
MFRI 
 MFRI, Inc.
 78
 0
5
0
0
0
7
7.10
14.91
7.81
110
MGPI 
 MGPI Processing, Inc
 84
 0
6
1
17
1.4
18
3.50
6.58
3.08
88
MHLD 
 Maiden Holdings, Ltd
 769
 58
53
18
34
3.5
72
8.23
14.76
6.53
79
MIG 
 Meadowbrook Insuranc
 592
 121
52
7
13
1.9
51
9.00
15
6
67
MOC 
 Command Security Cor
 19
 1
2
0
0
0
11
1.12
2.61
1.49
133
MPAA 
 Motorcar Parts of Am
 117
 0
9
0
0
0
12
5.85
13.01
7.16
122
MSN 
 Emerson Radio Corp
 58
 0
7
10
143
0
27
1.99
5.27
3.28
165
NAFC 
 Nash-Finch Company
 405
 171
30
9
30
3.2
12
22.70
35.34
12.64
56
NAVG 
 The Navigators Group
 803
 7
53
0
0
0
14
50.01
76
25.99
52
NCIT 
 NCI Inc
 164
 150
20
0
0
0
14
4.04
8.39
4.35
108
NHC 
 National HealthCare
 612
 20
52
23
44
4.1
14
43.19
69.77
26.58
62
NNI 
 Nelnet, Inc.
 1066
 117
177
18
10
1.6
47
23.41
40.82
17.41
74
NRG 
 NRG Energy Inc
 7735
 1886
539
17
3
0.2
230
15.77
37.52
21.75
138
OME 
 Omega Protein Corpor
 197
 13
15
0
0
0
19
6.50
13.36
6.86
106
OMX 
 OfficeMax Incorporat
 569
 0
36
3
8
0.8
86
4.93
8.87
3.94
80
PCS 
 MetroPCS Communicati
 2928
 0
224
0
0
0
362
6.53
11.17
4.64
71
PERY 
 Perry Ellis Internat
 367
 14
21
0
0
0
15
17.48
29.82
12.34
71
PESI 
 Perma-Fix Environmen
 93
 27
9
0
0
0
56
1.30
1.98
0.68
52
PL 
 Protective Life Corp
 4220
 112
290
45
16
2.4
82
26.72
70.81
44.09
165
PLFE 
 Presidential Life Co
 788
 0
22
7
32
2.5
30
10.19
31.55
21.36
210
POWR 
 PowerSecure Internat
 112
 8
10
0
0
0
19
4.63
8.12
3.49
75
PRLS 
 Peerless Systems Cor
 12
 0
10
0
0
0
4
3.86
17.51
13.65
354
PWER 
 Power-One, Inc.
 441
 0
74
2
3
0.4
122
3.94
6.73
2.79
71
QCCO 
 QC Holdings, Inc.
 79
 24
14
5
36
5.4
17
3.95
8.82
4.87
123
RBCN 
 Rubicon Technology,
 228
 0
19
0
0
0
23
9.40
14.31
4.91
52
RCKY 
 Rocky Brands, Inc.
 117
 0
6
0
0
0
7
12.58
19.63
7.05
56
RCL 
 Royal Caribbean Crui
 8408
 747
425
7
2
0.4
217
25.02
45.25
20.23
81
RDC 
 Rowan Companies, Inc
 4326
 0
461
0
0
0
125
30.44
53.06
22.62
74
RELL 
 Richardson Electroni
 224
 0
31
2
6
0.9
17
12.23
22.95
10.72
88
RELV 
 Reliv International,
 14
 0
2
1
50
3.3
12
1.23
2.34
1.11
90
RGA 
 Reinsurance Group of
 6137
 7
527
35
7
1.2
73
51.87
121.85
69.98
135
RIMM 
 Research In Motion L
 8938
 508
2587
0
0
0
524
15.07
40.77
25.7
171
RSH 
 RadioShack Corporati
 753
 37
161
36
22
10.7
99
4.67
17.13
12.46
267
RT 
 Ruby Tuesday, Inc.
 592
 16
25
0
0
0
64
7.22
10.99
3.77
52
SBSA 
 Spanish Broadcasting
 58
 33
8
3
38
9
7
4.21
12.29
8.08
192
SENEA 
 Seneca Foods Corp
 354
 0
28
0
0
0
12
25.52
42.11
16.59
65
SFG 
 StanCorp Financial G
 2011
 36
179
39
22
2.5
44
35.89
69.23
33.34
93
SFL 
 Ship Finance Interna
 857
 0
163
105
64
12
79
12.93
27.77
14.84
115
SGMA 
 SigmaTron Internatio
 50
 0
2
0
0
0
4
3.76
15.5
11.74
312
SGU 
 Star Gas Partners, L
 273
 199
61
19
31
8.6
62
3.90
7.69
3.79
97
SMRT 
 Stein Mart, Inc.
 259
 0
31
7
23
0
43
6.24
10.33
4.09
66
SNFCA 
 Security National Fi
 61
 1
2
0
0
0
20
2.15
3.54
1.39
65
STEC 
 STEC, Inc.
 310
 2
42
0
0
0
46
7.23
11.26
4.03
56
SVT 
 Servotronics, Inc.
 23
 0
2
0
0
3.9
2
7.82
14.73
6.91
88
TAXI 
 Medallion Financial
 172
 5
10
12
120
7
17
10.00
15.86
5.86
59
TDS 
 Telephone & Data
 3963
 797
179
48
27
2.2
108
20.79
39.71
18.92
91
TDW 
 Tidewater Inc.
 2514
 329
257
52
20
2.2
51
46.49
72.91
26.42
57
TGX 
 Theragenics Corporat
 84
 0
3
0
0
0
34
1.70
2.91
1.21
71
TQNT 
 TriQuint Semiconduct
 937
 3
85
0
0
0
166
5.23
8.18
2.95
56
TRV 
 The Travelers Compan
 24477
 3365
2755
677
25
2.7
393
63.61
97.37
33.76
53
TSYS 
 TeleCommunication Sy
 251
 176
17
0
0
0
57
1.47
2.8
1.33
90
TWGP 
 Tower Group, Inc.
 1034
 250
87
18
21
3.5
40
19.78
32.82
13.04
66
UNAM 
 Unico American Corpo
 76
 0
3
1
33
0
5
11.20
17.98
6.78
61
UNM 
 Unum Group
 8577
 201
658
113
17
2
293
20.54
41.78
21.24
103
UPG 
 Universal Power Grou
 23
 1
1
0
0
0
5
1.90
5.38
3.48
183
USMO 
 USA Mobility Inc
 252
 131
78
37
47
7.8
22
12.86
31.48
18.62
145
UUU 
 Universal Security I
 27
 0
3
0
0
0
2
5.00
17.87
12.87
257
UVE 
 Universal Insurance
 150
 0
29
15
52
8.9
40
3.60
9.25
5.65
157
UVV 
 Universal Corp
 1186
 100
152
61
40
5.8
23
44.80
92.52
47.72
107
VALU 
 Value Line, Inc.
 33
 0
13
26
200
19.3
10
12.55
23.03
10.48
84
VG 
 Vonage Holdings Corp
 300
 0
94
0
0
0
226
1.70
3.41
1.71
101
WLFC 
 Willis Lease Finance
 237
 0
16
3
19
2.7
9
12.74
36.32
23.58
185
WMAR 
 West Marine, Inc.
 256
 0
18
0
0
0
23
10.03
15.17
5.14
51
WSTL 
 Westell Technologies
 159
 2
21
0
0
0
66
2.11
3.95
1.84
87
WTSLA 
 The Wet Seal, Inc.
 241
 0
38
0
0
0
91
3.06
4.76
1.7
56
ZOOM 
 Zoom Technologies, I
 77
 36
7
0
0
0
22
1.15
3.41
2.26
197

Security Analysis is arguably the most important book on value investing. You might be surprised, but there is no valuation methodology in the book. Benjamin Graham and David Dodd did not provide any indication that they used a formula or a specific algorithm for determining intrinsic value of common stocks.

The book, quite appropriately, is named "Security Analysis", not "Security Valuation". In the sections related to common-stock investment, it contains description of a general approach to selecting stocks. There is also a good treatise on how to adjust the income statement and balance sheet and what factors to look at in a comparison valuation. But you will be looking in vain for a well defined valuation process. Nonetheless, Security Analysis is a great book. It clearly distinguishes investing from speculation, and arms the investor with general guiding principles of investing.

The stock screener presented here is not the one used by the founders of the security analysis, but the one developed by us using the general approach to security valuation they employed. The stock screener compares intrinsic value of a stock with its current market price. The difference between them is called the margin of safety.

Following the spirit of Benjamin Graham and David Dodd's teachings, we assume that intrinsic value (V*) of a stock is composed of the following three components (on a per share basis):

  • Tangible book value (TBV), which serves as a proxy for assets' replacement costs or assets' fair value.
  • Value attributed to retained earnings, which are defined as the difference between Net Income (NI) and Dividends (Div). The value of this component is calculated as the value of a perpetual bond with the coupon equal to the company's average yearly retained earnings, and the required rate of return for retained earnings (RRRre) of 20%.
  • Value attributed to dividends. The value of this component is calculated as the value of a perpetual bond with the coupon equal to the company's average yearly dividend (Div) and the required rate of return for dividends (RRRd) of 10%.

Thus, using the Graham and Dodd's approach to security selection we came up with the following very simplified formula for valuation of common stocks:

           V* = TBV + ((NI – Div) / RRRre) + (Div / RRRd)

GRAHAM FORMULA STOCK SCREENER

RGV min:        RGV max:

Yield on AAA corporate bonds (Y): %

Stocks Listed in the USA
Ticker   Company name
   Net income
   (3-yr avg.)
$ mln
   Number of
shares
mln
Avg.
EPS
   $/share
   Growth
rate
%
   Stock
   price
   $/share
   Intrinsic
   value
   $/share
   RGV
AGM 
 Federal Agricultural
49
10
4.73
15
25.74
39.81
1.5
AGO 
 Assured Guaranty Ltd
452
182
2.48
35
12.87
21.83
1.7
AI 
 Arlington Asset Inve
53
8
6.91
33
23.19
60.54
2.6
ASYS 
 Amtech Systems, Inc.
10
9
1.05
35
4.60
9.28
2
CLD 
 Cloud Peak Energy In
202
61
3.32
13
15.82
27.78
1.8
CPE 
 Callon Petroleum Com
53
39
1.35
35
4.55
11.84
2.6
CRWN 
 Crown Media Holdings
107
360
0.3
13
1.50
2.49
1.7
CSC 
 Computer Sciences Co
891
155
5.75
1
26.42
46.83
1.8
CTRP 
 Ctrip.com Internatio
717
144
4.99
35
24.69
43.95
1.8
EGLE 
 Eagle Bulk Shipping
15
63
0.24
18
1.01
2.03
2
FSLR 
 First Solar, Inc.
422
86
4.88
8
13.98
40.45
2.9
FVE 
 Five Star Quality Ca
42
48
0.88
6
3.06
7.23
2.4
GIGA 
 Giga-tronics, Incorp
5
5
1
10
1.07
8.29
7.7
HA 
 Hawaiian Holdings, I
75
51
1.48
26
5.56
12.76
2.3
HLS 
 HEALTHSOUTH Corp.
401
95
4.21
8
20.14
34.87
1.7
HPQ 
 Hewlett-Packard Comp
11826
1980
5.97
1
22.03
48.68
2.2
ITT 
 ITT Corporation
434
93
4.68
11
21.34
39.03
1.8
JRCC 
 James River Coal Com
30
36
0.84
35
3.65
7.41
2
LINTA 
 Liberty Interactive
3089
602
5.13
8
17.89
42.53
2.4
NAV 
 Navistar Internation
755
69
10.93
15
28.41
91.97
3.2
PDLI 
 PDL BioPharma Inc.
160
140
1.14
5
6.37
9.41
1.5
PRLS 
 Peerless Systems Cor
10
4
2.82
28
3.86
24.48
6.3
QCCO 
 QC Holdings, Inc.
14
17
0.82
2
3.95
6.73
1.7
RIMM 
 Research In Motion L
2587
524
4.94
33
15.07
43.26
2.9
RSH 
 RadioShack Corporati
161
99
1.62
3
4.67
13.27
2.8
SBSA 
 Spanish Broadcasting
8
7
1.23
4
4.21
10.09
2.4
SGU 
 Star Gas Partners, L
61
62
0.99
31
3.90
8.63
2.2
TSYS 
 TeleCommunication Sy
17
57
0.3
9
1.47
2.47
1.7
USMO 
 USA Mobility Inc
78
22
3.53
4
12.86
28.95
2.3
ZOOM 
 Zoom Technologies, I
7
22
0.31
21
1.15
2.68
2.3

Contrary to common belief, Benjamin Graham and David Dodd did not provide any indication that they used a formula or a specific algorithm for determining intrinsic value of a common stock. According to them, "security analysis does not seek to determine exactly what is the intrinsic value of a given security". It can only asses if the price is low or high enough. The intrinsic value is a range with vaguely defined limits, not a specific number.

In The Intelligent Investor, Benjamin Graham provides a simple formula, that, in his own words, only "approximates the results of the more elaborate calculations in vogue" (i.e. other methods) for the valuation of growth stocks. He never actually suggested or implied that that the formula gives the "true value" of a growth stock. This formula appeared in the text in the context of the discussion how unreliable predictions of future growth rates are.

The formula was slightly revised in 1974 to adjust for variations in market interest rates and was described as follows:

Graham formula

where V* is intrinsic value of a stock, EPS is the company’s last 12-month earnings per share, 8.5 is the constant representing the appropriate P/E ratio for a no-growth company as proposed by Graham, g is the company’s long-term (five years) earnings growth estimate, 4.4 is the average yield of high-grade corporate bonds in 1962, when this model was first introduced, and Y is the current yield on 20yr AAA corporate bonds.

Despite specific warnings from the author, the equation, known as the Benjamin Graham formula, is commonly used today for valuation of stocks.

Overzealous Graham followers even introduced the notion of relative Graham value (RGV), which is calculated as the ratio of stock's intrinsic value (V*) to its current price (P):

Relative Graham Value

For overvalued stocks RGV is less than one, while for undervalued ones it is greater than one.

BENJAMIN GRAHAM AND DAVID DODD

Security Analysis

Summary

No value investing site can do without referencing (directly or indirectly) the founders of the value investing concept and method, Benjamin Graham and David Dodd. Their book Security Analysis (1934) is the bible of the value investor. The book is mentioned in a pleortha of articles on value investing as a supporting reference. However, the value investing, as it was understood by Graham and Dodd, is quite different from how it is understood by the vast majority of modern value investors, including the authors of this site. Therefore, here we decided to go back to the source of this all and reveal what the founders of the method actually meant.

What is Value Investing according to Graham and Dodd?

In a few words - it is investing in undervalued securities, i.e. those securities intrinsic (or true) value of which is less than its market price. This is still how value investing is defined today. The difference, however, is in how the intrinsic value is determined.

Graham and Dodd define the intrinsic value as "value which is justified by the facts", which, by definition, cannot include "entirely conjectural future prospects". A true Graham and Dodd value investor would only take into consideration future prospects of a company when such prospects are certain and quantifiable. When they are either not certain or quantifiable, they are completely disregarded. This basically reduces all companies with volatile earnings to valuation based almost exclusively on balance sheet items.

What are Intrinsic Value Factors?

According to Graham and Dodd, they are:

  • earnings
  • dividends
  • assets
  • capital structure
  • terms of the issue
  • others (similarly known with certainty and quantifiable)

The following factors are explicitly excluded from intrinsic value estimations:

  • management and reputation
  • competitive conditions and prospects
  • possible and probable changes in volume, price, and costs
  • market factors (both general and related to a specific security)

What is the Result of Security Analysis?

According to Graham and Dodd, "security analysis does not seek to determine exactly what is the intrinsic value of a given security". It can only asses if the price is low or high enough. The intrinsic value is a range with vaguely defined limits, not a specific number.