In March, Russia’s benchmark Micex was trading at 4.8 times earnings, barely more than a third the valuations on Indian stocks and just over half the P/E on Brazil’s benchmark Ibovespa. That valuation was also less than half of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and it gave way to RSX and rival Russia ETFs being among May’s top-performing ETFs. [Russia ETFs May Finally be Cheap Enough]
Even on a CAPE basis, Russian stocks are among the least expensive in the world with only a handful of countries showing larger valuation discrepancies to U.S. stocks. The cyclically adjusted price/earnings ratio, or CAPE ratio, differs from the usual P/E ratio that so many investors are familiar with because CAPE evaluates earnings on a 10-year basis.
The Micex trades at 5.3 times projected 12-month earnings, a 57 percent discount to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, according to Bloomberg.
Some investors are not waiting for further confirmation of a rally in Russian stocks. Since the start of the third quarter, RSX has added nearly $110 million in new assets compared to just $3.2 million for EWZ, the largest Brazil ETF.
Market Vectors Russia ETF
