NICO Holdings (MSW:NICO) Piotroski F-Score: 6 (As of Aug. 09, 2026) — 14% Below Median

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MSW:NICO NICO Holdings PLC MSW:NICO
79 GF Score
Price MWK1,344.87
GF Value MWK1,275.67
Valuation Fairly Valued
! 2 Warning Signs
View Full Analysis

What is NICO Holdings Piotroski F-Score?

NICO Holdings MSW:NICO 79 Piotroski F-Score is 6 as of Aug. 09, 2026, which is 14% below its 10-year median of 7.00. GuruFocus rates MSW:NICO with a GF Score™ of 79/100 and a GF Value™ of MWK1,275.67 (Fairly Valued). The stock has 2 warning signs investors should review. Among 489 Insurance companies, NICO Holdings ranks better than 62.99% on this metric.

The zones of discrimination were as such:

Good or high score = 7, 8, 9
Bad or low score = 0, 1, 2, 3

NICO Holdings has an F-score of 6 indicating the company's financial situation is typical for a stable company.

The historical rank and industry rank for NICO Holdings's Piotroski F-Score or its related term are showing as below:

MSW:NICO' s Piotroski F-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: 6   Med: 7   Max: 7
Current: 6

During the past 5 years, the highest Piotroski F-Score of NICO Holdings was 7. The lowest was 6. And the median was 7.

NICO Holdings  (MSW:NICO) Piotroski F-Score Explanation

The developer of the system is Joseph D. Piotroski is relatively unknown accounting professor who shuns publicity and rarely gives interviews.

He graduated from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in accounting in 1989, received an M.B.A. from Indiana University in 1994. Five years later, in 1999, after earning a Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Michigan, he became an associate professor of accounting at the University of Chicago.

In 2000, he wrote a research paper called "Value Investing: The Use of Historical Financial Statement Information to Separate Winners from Losers" (pdf).

He wanted to see if he can develop a system (using a simple nine-point scoring system) that can increase the returns of a strategy of investing in low price to book (referred to in the paper as high book to market) value companies.

What he found was something that exceeded his most optimistic expectations.

Buying only those companies that scored highest (8 or 9) on his nine-point scale, or F-Score as he called it, over the 20 year period from 1976 to 1996 led to an average out-performance over the market of 13.4%.

Even more impressive were the results of a strategy of investing in the highest F-Score companies (8 or 9) and shorting companies with the lowest F-Score (0 or 1).

Over the same period from 1976 to 1996 (20 years) this strategy led to an average yearly return of 23%, substantially outperforming the average S&P 500 index return of 15.83% over the same period.


NICO Holdings Piotroski F-Score Related Terms


NICO Holdings Piotroski F-Score Historical Data

* Premium members only.

The historical data trend for NICO Holdings's Piotroski F-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

NICO Holdings Piotroski F-Score Chart

NICO Holdings Annual Data
Trend Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec24 Dec25
Piotroski F-Score
N/A N/A N/A 7.00 6.00

NICO Holdings Semi-Annual Data
Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec24 Dec25
Piotroski F-Score N/A N/A N/A 7.00 6.00

MSW:NICO vs BRK.A, AIG, HIG: Piotroski F-Score Comparison

For the Insurance - Diversified subindustry, NICO Holdings's Piotroski F-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Piotroski F-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


NICO Holdings Piotroski F-Score vs Insurance Industry

For the Insurance industry and Financial Services sector, NICO Holdings's Piotroski F-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where NICO Holdings's Piotroski F-Score falls into.


MSW:NICO
79GF Score
NICO Holdings PLC MSW:NICO
Piotroski F-Score is just one metric. See GF Score™, valuation, warning signs, and more.
View Full Analysis

How is the Piotroski F-Score calculated?

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

This Year (Dec25) TTM:Last Year (Dec24) TTM:
Net Income was MWK167,833 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was MWK-47,197 Mil.
Revenue was MWK1,508,267 Mil.
Average Total Assets from the begining of this year (Dec24)
to the end of this year (Dec25) was (2428936.309 + 4207411.546) / 2 = MWK3318173.9275 Mil.
Total Assets at the begining of this year (Dec24) was MWK2,428,936 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was MWK125,584 Mil.
Total Assets was MWK4,207,412 Mil.
Total Liabilities was MWK3,662,010 Mil.
Net Income was MWK72,009 Mil.

Revenue was MWK518,962 Mil.
Average Total Assets from the begining of last year (Dec22)
to the end of last year (Dec24) was (1151879.442 + 2428936.309) / 2 = MWK1790407.8755 Mil.
Total Assets at the begining of last year (Dec22) was MWK1,151,879 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was MWK136,250 Mil.
Total Assets was MWK2,428,936 Mil.
Total Liabilities was MWK2,154,357 Mil.

*Note: If the latest quarterly/semi-annual/annual total assets data is 0, then we will use previous quarterly/semi-annual/annual data for all the items in the balance sheet.

Profitability

Question 1. Return on Assets (ROA)

Net income before extraordinary items for the year divided by Total Assets at the beginning of the year.

Score 1 if positive, 0 if negative.

NICO Holdings's current Net Income (TTM) was 167,833. ==> Positive ==> Score 1.

Question 2. Cash Flow Return on Assets (CFROA)

Net cash flow from operating activities (operating cash flow) divided by Total Assets at the beginning of the year.

Score 1 if positive, 0 if negative.

NICO Holdings's current Cash Flow from Operations (TTM) was -47,197. ==> Negative ==> Score 0.

Question 3. Change in Return on Assets

Compare this year's return on assets (1) to last year's return on assets.

Score 1 if it's higher, 0 if it's lower.

ROA (This Year)=Net Income/Total Assets (Dec24)
=167833.192/2428936.309
=0.0690974

ROA (Last Year)=Net Income/Total Assets (Dec22)
=72008.967/1151879.442
=0.06251433

NICO Holdings's return on assets of this year was 0.0690974. NICO Holdings's return on assets of last year was 0.06251433. ==> This year is higher. ==> Score 1.

Question 4. Quality of Earnings (Accrual)

Compare Cash flow return on assets (2) to return on assets (1)

Score 1 if CFROA > ROA, 0 if CFROA <= ROA.

NICO Holdings's current Net Income (TTM) was 167,833. NICO Holdings's current Cash Flow from Operations (TTM) was -47,197. ==> -47,197 <= 167,833 ==> CFROA <= ROA ==> Score 0.

Funding

Question 5. Change in Gearing or Leverage

Compare this year's gearing (long-term debt divided by average total assets) to last year's gearing.

Score 0 if this year's gearing is higher, 1 otherwise.

Gearing (This Year: Dec25)=Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation/Average Total Assets from Dec24 to Dec25
=125584.194/3318173.9275
=0.03784738

Gearing (Last Year: Dec24)=Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation/Average Total Assets from Dec22 to Dec24
=136250.175/1790407.8755
=0.07610008

NICO Holdings's gearing of this year was 0.03784738. NICO Holdings's gearing of last year was 0.07610008. ==> This year is lower or equal to last year. ==> Score 1.

Question 6. Change in Working Capital (Liquidity)

Compare this year's current ratio (current assets divided by current liabilities) to last year's current ratio.

Score 1 if this year's current ratio is higher, 0 if it's lower

* Note that for banks and insurance companies, there's no Total Current Assets and Total Current Liabilities reported. Thus, we use Total Assets and Total Liabilities to calculate current ratio for banks and insurance companies.

Current Ratio (This Year: Dec25)=Total Assets/Total Liabilities
=4207411.546/3662009.895
=1.14893506

Current Ratio (Last Year: Dec24)=Total Assets/Total Liabilities
=2428936.309/2154356.756
=1.12745315

NICO Holdings's current ratio of this year was 1.14893506. NICO Holdings's current ratio of last year was 1.12745315. ==> This year's current ratio is higher. ==> Score 1.

Question 7. Change in Shares in Issue

Compare the number of shares in issue this year, to the number in issue last year.

Score 0 if there is larger number of shares in issue this year, 1 otherwise.

NICO Holdings's number of shares in issue this year was 1043.041. NICO Holdings's number of shares in issue last year was 1043.041. ==> There is smaller number of shares in issue this year, or the same. ==> Score 1.

Efficiency

Question 8. Change in Gross Margin

Compare this year's gross margin (Gross Profit divided by sales) to last year's.

Score 1 if this year's gross margin is higher, 0 if it's lower.

* Note that for banks and insurance companies, there's no Gross Profit reported. Thus, we use net income instead of gross profit and calculate Net Margin for this score.

Net Margin (This Year: TTM)=Net Income/Revenue
=167833.192/1508266.714
=0.11127554

Net Margin (Last Year: TTM)=Net Income/Revenue
=72008.967/518962.071
=0.13875574

NICO Holdings's net margin of this year was 0.11127554. NICO Holdings's net margin of last year was 0.13875574. ==> Last year's net margin is higher ==> Score 0.

Question 9. Change in asset turnover

Compare this year's asset turnover (total sales for the year divided by total assets at the beginning of the year) to last year's asset turnover ratio.

Score 1 if this year's asset turnover ratio is higher, 0 if it's lower

Asset Turnover (This Year)=Revenue/Total Assets at the Beginning of This Year (Dec24)
=1508266.714/2428936.309
=0.6209577

Asset Turnover (Last Year)=Revenue/Total Assets at the Beginning of Last Year (Dec22)
=518962.071/1151879.442
=0.45053506

NICO Holdings's asset turnover of this year was 0.6209577. NICO Holdings's asset turnover of last year was 0.45053506. ==> This year's asset turnover is higher. ==> Score 1.

Evaluation

Piotroski F-Score= Que. 1+ Que. 2+ Que. 3+Que. 4+Que. 5+Que. 6+Que. 7+Que. 8+Que. 9
=1+0+1+0+1+1+1+0+1
=6

Good or high score = 7, 8, 9
Bad or low score = 0, 1, 2, 3

NICO Holdings has an F-score of 6 indicating the company's financial situation is typical for a stable company.

Frequently Asked Questions Learn more about Piotroski F-Score →
What does a Piotroski F-Score of 6 mean?
NICO Holdings (MSW:NICO) has a Piotroski F-Score of 6 as of Aug. 09, 2026. The Piotroski F-score grades a company's business operating strength from 0-9. View historical data on NICO Holdings and its competitors. This is 14% below median its historical median of 7.00. Over the past decade, NICO Holdings' Piotroski F-Score has ranged from 6.00 to 7.00. According to the industry distribution chart, NICO Holdings ranks #181 out of 489 companies in the Insurance industry, placing it in the top 37%.
Is NICO Holdings' Piotroski F-Score too high?
NICO Holdings' current Piotroski F-Score of 6 is 14% below median its 10-year median of 7.00. Over the past 10 years, this metric has ranged from a low of 6.00 to a high of 7.00. The Insurance industry median Piotroski F-Score is 6.00. NICO Holdings' value of 6 is 0% at this industry median. Based on the distribution chart, NICO Holdings ranks #181 out of 489 companies in the Insurance industry, which is above the industry midpoint. Overall, NICO Holdings has a GF Score™ of 79/100 and is considered Fairly Valued, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does NICO Holdings' Piotroski F-Score compare to BRK.A and AIG?
According to the Insurance industry distribution chart, NICO Holdings ranks #181 out of 489 companies for Piotroski F-Score. This puts NICO Holdings in the upper half of its industry. The industry median Piotroski F-Score is 6.00. NICO Holdings' value of 6 is 0% at this benchmark. Historically, NICO Holdings' own Piotroski F-Score has ranged from 6.00 to 7.00 over the past decade. While the company's 10-year median is 7.00 vs. the industry median of 6.00, NICO Holdings has consistently been at the industry average. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Piotroski F-Score for an Insurance company?
The median Piotroski F-Score among Insurance companies is 6.00, based on 489 companies in the industry. Companies in the top quartile (top 25%) have a Piotroski F-Score significantly above this median, while those in the bottom quartile fall well below. However, Piotroski F-Score should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. NICO Holdings's current Piotroski F-Score of 6 is 0% at the industry median. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Piotroski F-Score mean?
A high Piotroski F-Score can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. The Piotroski F-score grades a company's business operating strength from 0-9. View historical data on NICO Holdings and its competitors. For the Insurance industry, the median Piotroski F-Score is 6.00 — values significantly above this may indicate overvaluation, while values below may suggest a bargain or underlying issues. NICO Holdings's current Piotroski F-Score is 6, which is 14% below median its own 10-year median of 7.00. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is NICO Holdings stock overvalued right now?
Based on GuruFocus' analysis, NICO Holdings (MSW:NICO) is currently considered Fairly Valued. The stock's GF Value™ is MWK1,275.67, compared to a current price of MWK1,344.87 — trading 5.4% above its estimated fair value. The current Piotroski F-Score is 6, which is 14% below median its 10-year median of 7.00 and 0% at the Insurance industry median of 6.00. NICO Holdings' overall GF Score™ is 79/100 with 2 warning signs to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Piotroski F-Score calculated?
Piotroski F-Score is calculated from a company's financial statements. For NICO Holdings (MSW:NICO), the current Piotroski F-Score is 6 as of Aug. 09, 2026. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.

Is NICO Holdings (MSW:NICO) Overvalued in 2026?

Based on GuruFocus' analysis, NICO Holdings stock appears to be overvalued. The current stock price of MWK1,344.87 is trading 5.4% above its estimated GF Value™ of MWK1,275.67. GuruFocus considers NICO Holdings to be Fairly Valued.

Key valuation signals for MSW:NICO:

  • Piotroski F-Score: 6 (14% below median its 10-year median of 7.00)
  • GF Value™: MWK1,275.67 vs. price of MWK1,344.87 (5.4% above fair value)
  • GF Score™: 79/100 with 2 warning signs
  • Industry Position: 0% at the Insurance median (#181 of 489)

No single metric tells the full story. See the MSW:NICO stock analysis page for a complete view including 30-year financials, guru trades, and insider activity.


NICO Holdings Business Description

Address Chibisa House-19 Glyn Jones Road, PO Box 501, Blantyre, MWI
NICO Holdings PLC is a Malawi-based financial service company that operates in diversified business. Its segments include Life Insurance and Pension, General Insurance business, Banking business, Investment Holding, Asset Management, and Information Technology. Its general insurance segment offers personal and commercial insurance covering motor vehicle, building, road construction, liability, engineering, professional indemnity, marine hull & cargo, fire, and personal accidents throughout Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, and Uganda. In contrast, life insurance and pension products including Endowment Assurance are offered in Malawi and Mozambique. The majority of the revenue is earned from the Insurance sector. while its Asset Management and Banking segments only operate in Malawi.
79GF Score

Get the complete analysis for MSW:NICO

Piotroski F-Score is just one metric. See GF Value™, 30-year financials, guru trades, warning signs, and more.

MWK1,344.87
Price
MWK1,275.67
GF Value