Cardinal Ethanol (CRDE) Stock Analysis & Winston Score

Cardinal Ethanol is a small company based in Indiana that turns corn into ethanol, a type of alcohol used mainly as a fuel additive blended into gasoline. Its core product is fuel-grade ethanol, which it sells to fuel blenders, refiners, and distributors across the United States. The company also sells distillers grains, a leftover from the ethanol-making process, as animal feed to livestock farmers.

Cardinal Ethanol makes money by selling ethanol and distillers grains, so its profits depend heavily on the spread between corn prices and ethanol prices. It operates a single plant in Union City, Indiana, making it a small, regionally focused producer with limited geographic diversification. The company's strong return on invested capital suggests it runs its plant efficiently, but its biggest risk is commodity price swings — when corn gets expensive or ethanol prices fall, margins can shrink quickly.

Winston Score History

Share count broadly stable

0.0% over 4y

The share count has stayed roughly flat over this period — little dilution or buyback activity.

Diluted shares outstanding: 15K (2019) → 15K (2023)

Score breakdown

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Quality

Gross Margin

11.6%

Thin — 11.6% gross margin

Operating Margin

7.5%

Modest — 7.5% operating margin

ROCE

2.8%

Weak — 2.8% return on capital

ROIC between 0% and 5%. They earn a few cents back per dollar invested in the business.

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Growth

Sales YoY

-13.0%

Shrinking sales (-13.0% YoY)

EPS YoY

-27.5%

Earnings shrinking (-27.5% YoY)

Earnings per share down more than 10%. Either a bad year, or a real decline.

EPS Consistency

2/8 quarters

Earnings rarely grow — volatile business

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion

125%

Turns 125% of profit into real cash

FCF Margin

7.2%

Modest free cash flow (7.2%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

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Stability

Debt / Equity

0.34

Conservative — low debt load (0.34)

Interest Cover

21.56x

Comfortably covers interest (21.6x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

6.3x

Attractive valuation — P/E 6.3

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

P/E vs Forward

N/A

not available

Data not available

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Dividends

Not applicable for this business.

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