What is the PERT® portfolio report?

PERT® (Portfolio Evaluation Review Technique) is a portfolio-level report in SSGPlus that rolls up the key outputs from each saved Stock Selection Guide (SSG) into one view so you can monitor quality and valuation across all holdings at once. The name comes from BetterInvesting legend Ralph Seger.

What it shows (two halves)

1 - Left Hand Side - Quality – “How are companies executing?”
Compares the company’s latest fundamentals to the growth rates you set on the SSG.

• EPS (YoY), Sales (YoY), Pre-tax Profit (YoY), and TTM EPS (sum of last 4 quarters vs prior 4) (YoY).

• Alerts (pink/magenta):
  Sales is flagged if it trails your SSG Sales growth judgment.
  EPS, Pre-tax Profit, TTM EPS are flagged if they trail your SSG EPS growth judgment.
  Use these as “do more research” prompts—one weak quarter isn’t a thesis, but trends matter.

2 - Right Hand Side - Valuation – “What’s the opportunity/risk today?”
Summarizes the buy/hold/sell drivers from your SSG.

• Projected P/E, Current Price & date, Projected Relative Value (PRV), Projected 5-yr P/E Avg, PEG %, Upside/Downside (U/D), Total Return.

• Alerts (yellow): PRV < 80 or > 150, U/D < 1, % Total Return < 10%.

• Red price date = price is >7 days old (refresh data).

PERT reflects your SSG judgments (growth rates, P/Es, price ranges). Two investors can see different PERT numbers for the same company if their SSGs differ.

How to use it

• Defensive (quality first): Sort by the quality columns to spot pink rows. Investigate whether shortfalls are one-time or trend; adjust SSG judgments if warranted and note your rationale.

• Offensive (valuation next): Sort by % Total Return to find candidates to add (high PAR, solid quality) and by the bottom of the list to find candidates to trim (low PAR/U-D, stretched PRV).

  • Common buy cues: U/D ≥ 3 (and < 10), PRV < 100, PEG < 1.5, PAR ≥ ~15%.
  • Common sell/trim cues: U/D < 1, PRV > 150, PEG > 2, PAR < ~10%, Projected P/E near/above your projected 5-yr high P/E.

Tip: Click the small triangles in headers to sort any column (e.g., by PAR, PRV, or TTM EPS change).

Where to find it

My Studies → select a Portfolio → Portfolio Reports → PERT (SSGPlus). The other tabs are Summary and Diversification.

Notes & limits

• Keep SSGs current and complete. Incomplete forecasts produce blanks; stale prices produce misleading PRV/U-D.

• PERT does not track realized/unrealized gains from transactions; it’s for fundamentals and forward return expectations.

• Review quarterly (or monthly for clubs): companies report quarterly; your portfolio process should too.

Quick glossary (calculated fields)

• Projected P/E: Current price ÷ next-year EPS estimated from your SSG EPS growth.

• Projected 5-yr P/E Avg: Average of your projected high/low P/Es on the SSG.

• Projected Relative Value (PRV): (Projected P/E ÷ Projected 5-yr P/E Avg) × 100. <100 often suggests undervaluation vs your norms.

• PEG: Projected P/E ÷ your SSG EPS growth. Lower implies paying less P/E for each point of growth.

A reference document containing all of the calculations used on the PERT report is here.

Related videos in the Video Learning Library:

1. Use PERT to Perk Up Your Portfolio
2. The PERT Report and Your Portfolio Health

Used consistently, PERT is your monthly “dashboard” to protect quality and improve expected returns—all from the same SSG judgments you already maintain.