Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co Ltd (ASX: SOL) has long been one of my favourite ASX investments, with the Soul Patts share price one of the top names on my ASX watchlist.
As I've documented here many times before, I am attracted to this ASX share's diversified underlying portfolio, as well as the company's management, which has a long history of delivering market-beating returns to shareholders.
The fact that Soul Patts has the best dividend track record on the ASX (28 years of annual dividend increases) doesn't hurt either.
Soul Patts shares have been on quite a journey over 2025. The investment house rocketed in value back in early June after the company announced plans to acquire the building materials manufacturer Brickworks, topping out at a new record high share price of $45.14 in September. Since then, however, the Soul Patts share price has come off the boil somewhat, as the joy over the merger's consummation faded.
After dipping below $35 each last week, the company is sitting at $37.49 a share at the time of writing. That's almost 20% down from that September record high.
So yes, the Soul Patts share price is a lot cheaper than it used to be. But they're not quite cheap enough for me to buy more.
How to value the Soul Patts share price
It can be hard to put a valuation on a company like Soul Patts, considering the nature of its vast underlying portfolio. Although this portfolio includes many easily valued ASX shares, it also contains assets like property, private equity and credit, which are harder to put a price tag on.
Soul Patts does give us some insights. Each year, for example, we get a net tangible assets per share metric. As of July 2025, this stood at $27.90, which doesn't factor in the Brickworks merger.
Back in September, Soul Patts also told the market that its post-merger portfolio was valued at $13.2 billion. Today, the company's market capitalisation sits at $14.26 billion.
Given the haphazard nature of these valuation metrics, I prefer to use a simpler, albeit cruder, method to value Soul Patts shares.
We've already established this company's stellar dividend track record. Given that Soul Patts is such a consistent dividend payer and has increased its annual payouts every year for almost three decades, I think comparing the company's running dividend yield to its long-term average is a simple way to check if it is presenting good value at current pricing.
So, going back about five years, I've determined that the average Soul Patts dividend yield stands at about 2.9%. For the company to achieve that yield today, its shares would need to be priced at approximately $35.50. Unfortunately, at the current price of $37.49, the dividend yield is only 2.75%.
As such, the company is still a little pricey for my liking. I would like to see the Soul Patts share price below $35.50 a share, preferably below $35, before I consider adding more. Let's hope there's an opportunity to do so soon.
