Deep Value: cash covers more than 100% of the stock price

This company holds roughly $49M in cash and investments — more than its entire stock-market value, based on its latest quarterly filing. You're paying very little for the actual business. Sometimes that's a genuine bargain or a takeover target, sometimes it's cheap for a reason. Not a buy signal on its own — always ask why it's this cheap.

J. Smart & Co. (Contractors)

SMJ.L

Engineering & Construction · Industrials

Exchange

London Stock Exchange

Winston Score

Winston is serious

Mixed quality — meaningful strengths and weaknesses.

Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Jan 31, 2026

How the score breaks down

Quality

Weak

Growth

Good

Cash Flow

Exceptional

Stability

Good

Valuation

Good

Dividends

Mixed

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Winston Score History

The full picture

J. Smart & Co. (Contractors) PLC is a small Scottish construction and property company based in Edinburgh. It builds and manages commercial and residential properties, taking on contracting work for clients across Scotland. The company has operated for well over a century, making it one of the older construction firms in Scotland.

The company earns money through construction contracts and rental income from its property portfolio. It operates almost entirely within Scotland, keeping its geographic footprint small and focused. Its long history and local relationships provide some stability, but the business is very small, and the negative operating margin shown in recent financial data signals that costs are currently outpacing revenues. The main risk is that thin margins in construction leave little room for error, and a small company like this has limited ability to absorb project overruns or economic downturns in the Scottish property market. Improving profitability on its contracting work is the key challenge ahead.

Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+63.9% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue accelerating

EPS Growth

-5.9% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Earnings declining

Insider Activity

77.5%ownership

Insiders own a meaningful stake in the company

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

£109M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Revenue accelerating

J. Smart & Co. (Contractors) grew revenue 64% year-over-year and the growth rate is speeding up. That's the kind of momentum growth investors look for — the question is whether margins can follow.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

Each metric is explained in plain language so you know exactly what you're looking at. Start your free trial now.

Quality

Profit per sale

Gross Margin

13.6%

Thin — 13.6% gross margin

Profit after running costs

Operating Margin

-2.3%

Losing money on operations — -2.3%

Return on the money invested

ROCE

-0.7%

Weak — -0.7% return on capital

Negative ROIC means the business is losing money on every dollar invested in it.

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Growth

Sales growth

Sales YoY

+29.2%

Fast-growing sales (+29.2% YoY)

Profit growth

EPS YoY

+227.4%

Earnings growing fast (+227.4% YoY)

Earnings growing 25%+ a year. The compounder zone.

How steady the profit is

EPS Consistency

2/8 quarters

Earnings rarely grow — volatile business

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash

Cash Conversion

170%

Turns 170% of profit into real cash

Spare cash per sale

FCF Margin

27.4%

Converts sales into free cash efficiently (27.4%)

Free cash flow margin above 20%. Out of every $100 in sales, more than $20 is real cash they keep.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns

Debt / Equity

0.05

Conservative — low debt load (0.05)

Covers its interest

Interest Cover

N/A

Data not available

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Valuation

Price vs profit

P/E Ratio (TTM)

8.7x

no trend

Attractive valuation — P/E 8.7

P/E under 10. The price tag is small relative to last year's profit.

Cheaper or dearer next year

P/E vs Forward

N/A

not available

Data not available

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Dividends

Dividend

Dividend Yield

2.89%

no trend

Moderate income — 2.89% yield

Standard yield zone for stable dividend payers. A meaningful piece of total return.

Dividend record

Dividend Growth

+0.3%

no trend

Dividend flat

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