Merck (MRK)

TotalReturn:

'Total return, when measuring performance, is the actual rate of return of an investment or a pool of investments over a given evaluation period. Total return includes interest, capital gains, dividends and distributions realized over a given period of time. Total return accounts for two categories of return: income including interest paid by fixed-income investments, distributions or dividends and capital appreciation, representing the change in the market price of an asset.'

• The total return, or increase in value over 5 years of Merck is 55.4%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (67.6%) in the same period.
• Looking at total return in of 34.7% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (36.7%).

CAGR:

'Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is a business and investing specific term for the geometric progression ratio that provides a constant rate of return over the time period. CAGR is not an accounting term, but it is often used to describe some element of the business, for example revenue, units delivered, registered users, etc. CAGR dampens the effect of volatility of periodic returns that can render arithmetic means irrelevant. It is particularly useful to compare growth rates from various data sets of common domain such as revenue growth of companies in the same industry.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (10.9%) in the period of the last 5 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 9.2% of Merck is smaller, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (11%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 10.4% is smaller, thus worse.

Volatility:

'In finance, volatility (symbol σ) is the degree of variation of a trading price series over time as measured by the standard deviation of logarithmic returns. Historic volatility measures a time series of past market prices. Implied volatility looks forward in time, being derived from the market price of a market-traded derivative (in particular, an option). Commonly, the higher the volatility, the riskier the security.'

• Looking at the volatility of 22.7% in the last 5 years of Merck, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (19%)
• Looking at historical 30 days volatility in of 24% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (22%).

DownVol:

'Downside risk is the financial risk associated with losses. That is, it is the risk of the actual return being below the expected return, or the uncertainty about the magnitude of that difference. Risk measures typically quantify the downside risk, whereas the standard deviation (an example of a deviation risk measure) measures both the upside and downside risk. Specifically, downside risk in our definition is the semi-deviation, that is the standard deviation of all negative returns.'

• The downside risk over 5 years of Merck is 15.6%, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (13.9%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (16.2%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside deviation of 16.9% is higher, thus worse.

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio is the measure of risk-adjusted return of a financial portfolio. Sharpe ratio is a measure of excess portfolio return over the risk-free rate relative to its standard deviation. Normally, the 90-day Treasury bill rate is taken as the proxy for risk-free rate. A portfolio with a higher Sharpe ratio is considered superior relative to its peers. The measure was named after William F Sharpe, a Nobel laureate and professor of finance, emeritus at Stanford University.'

• Looking at the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.3 in the last 5 years of Merck, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.44)
• During the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio is 0.33, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 0.39 from the benchmark.

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio improves upon the Sharpe ratio by isolating downside volatility from total volatility by dividing excess return by the downside deviation. The Sortino ratio is a variation of the Sharpe ratio that differentiates harmful volatility from total overall volatility by using the asset's standard deviation of negative asset returns, called downside deviation. The Sortino ratio takes the asset's return and subtracts the risk-free rate, and then divides that amount by the asset's downside deviation. The ratio was named after Frank A. Sortino.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.6) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.43 of Merck is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at downside risk / excess return profile in of 0.47 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.53).

Ulcer:

'The Ulcer Index is a technical indicator that measures downside risk, in terms of both the depth and duration of price declines. The index increases in value as the price moves farther away from a recent high and falls as the price rises to new highs. The indicator is usually calculated over a 14-day period, with the Ulcer Index showing the percentage drawdown a trader can expect from the high over that period. The greater the value of the Ulcer Index, the longer it takes for a stock to get back to the former high.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (5.91 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 8.2 of Merck is higher, thus worse.
• Looking at Downside risk index in of 8.7 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (7 ).

MaxDD:

'A maximum drawdown is the maximum loss from a peak to a trough of a portfolio, before a new peak is attained. Maximum Drawdown is an indicator of downside risk over a specified time period. It can be used both as a stand-alone measure or as an input into other metrics such as 'Return over Maximum Drawdown' and the Calmar Ratio. Maximum Drawdown is expressed in percentage terms.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum DrawDown of -27.3 days of Merck is larger, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown is -27.3 days, which is greater, thus better than the value of -33.7 days from the benchmark.

MaxDuration:

'The Drawdown Duration is the length of any peak to peak period, or the time between new equity highs. The Max Drawdown Duration is the worst (the maximum/longest) amount of time an investment has seen between peaks (equity highs) in days.'

• The maximum days below previous high over 5 years of Merck is 220 days, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (187 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum time in days below previous high water mark in of 217 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (139 days).

AveDuration:

'The Average Drawdown Duration is an extension of the Maximum Drawdown. However, this metric does not explain the drawdown in dollars or percentages, rather in days, weeks, or months. The Avg Drawdown Duration is the average amount of time an investment has seen between peaks (equity highs), or in other terms the average of time under water of all drawdowns. So in contrast to the Maximum duration it does not measure only one drawdown event but calculates the average of all.'

• The average time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of Merck is 59 days, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (45 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the average days under water is 55 days, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 42 days from the benchmark.