CGI Group Inc. (TSX: GIB.A)(NYSE: GIB), the world’s fifth-largest independent information technology and business process services company, announced second-quarter earnings results before the market opened on April 29 and its stock has responded by falling about 5% in the trading sessions since. Let’s take a closer look at the results to determine if a sell-off of this magnitude was warranted, or if we should consider using this weakness as a long-term buying opportunity.
Breaking down the second-quarter results
Here’s a summary of CGI’s second-quarter earnings results compared with its results in the same period a year ago.
| Metric | Q2 2015 | Q2 2014 |
| Earnings Per Share | $0.78 | $0.73 |
| Revenue | $2.60 billion | $2.70 billion |
Source: CGI Group Inc.
CGI’s diluted earnings per share increased 6.8% and its revenue decreased 3.8% compared with the second quarter of fiscal 2014. The company’s strong earnings per share growth can be attributed to its adjusted net income increasing 9.4% to a record $251.2 million, and this was helped by its total operating expenses decreasing 6.3% to $2.26 billion. Its slight decline in revenue can be partially attributed to it booking just $2.3 billion in contract awards during the quarter, a decrease of 20.7% from the $2.9 billion booked in the year-ago period.
Here’s a quick breakdown of eight other important statistics from the report compared with the year-ago period:
- Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased 6.3% to $363.1 million
- Adjusted EBIT margin improved 140 basis points to 14%
- Return on invested capital improved 120 basis points to 14.6%
- Return on equity improved 50 basis points to 18.4%
- Cash provided by operating activities decreased 18.8% to $284.7 million
- Reported a backlog of signed orders totaling $20.0 billion at the end of the quarter, an increase of 2.7% from the end of the year-ago period
- Net debt decreased 30.2% to $1.87 billion
- Weighted average number of diluted shares outstanding increased 2% to 322.92 million
Is today the day to buy shares of CGI Group?
I think the decline in CGI’s stock represents a very attractive long-term buying opportunity. I think this because it now trades at very low valuations, including just 16.2 times fiscal 2015’s estimated earnings per share of $3.18 and only 15 times fiscal 2016’s estimated earnings per share of $3.44, both of which are very inexpensive compared with its five-year average price-to-earnings multiple of 33.7 and the industry average multiple of 20.3.
I think CGI’s stock could consistently command a fair multiple of at least 20, which would place its shares upwards of $68 by the conclusion of fiscal 2015 and upwards of $63 by the conclusion of fiscal 2016, representing upside of more than 22% and 32%, respectively, from current levels.
With all of the information provided above in mind, I think CGI Group represents a great long-term investment opportunity today. Foolish investors should take a closer look and strongly consider using the post-earnings weakness to initiate positions.
