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“When it comes to valuing stocks, the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is the number one metric for investors that want an instant fix on what the market thinks of a company. [That being said]…there are health warnings to heed if you don’t want to be left exposed by its limitations.” [Let me explain.] Words: 993
Prepared by Lorimer Wilson, editor of munKNEE.com – Your KEY To Making Money! [This article of edited excerpts* from the original article by Ben Hobson provides you with 24% FASTER – and EASIER – read.]
“What is the P/E ratio?
The price/earnings, P/E, or ‘multiple’ as it is sometimes called, compares:
- a company’s stock price with its historic earnings per share (EPS)… It is effectively a shorthand for how expensive or cheap a share is compared with its profits. Alternatively, it can be calculated by dividing the company’s market capitalization by its total annual earnings….
- at times you will see the stock price divided by the forecast EPS as a way of producing a ‘predicted’ P/E ratio using analysts’ expectations as a guide [while]
- other times the EPS figure will be produced from the past two quarters and the forecast two quarters in order to smooth out the lag between annual results – this is known as the ‘rolling’ P/E…
Another complication is that P/E ratios may be based on either reported earnings (i.e. exactly as per the company’s annual report) or normalized earnings (i.e. with adjustments for exceptional or non-recurring items). Normalized earnings, in our opinion, make for much more meaningful comparisons between companies.@Investment Insights
What the P/E tells you
The P/E is a measure of how highly valued the company’s earnings are in the market by telling you:
- what an investor is prepared to pay for every $1 of those earnings and
- how many years an investor would have to wait to get back his investment through current earnings (assuming all earnings are paid out as dividends, which would be somewhat unusual of course!).
In essence, the P/E tells us the degree of confidence that investors have in the future of the business. A low P/E ratio of, say, 3 or 5 would show very little confidence in the sustainability of that business whereas a much higher P/E of 30+ expresses a great deal of optimism about the future of a business.
In the case of value investors, they are very focused on buying stocks that are trading at very low P/Es, believing that this represents a bargain (especially if the P/E is low compared to historic averages).
In the case of growth investors, the P/E is seen as less meaningful since they hope that current earnings will soon multiply. Investors that want to adjust the PE to take account of growth forecasts should refer to the price-earnings growth ratio (PEG)…
Academic research has found that all other things being equal, shares on a low P/E ratio outperform those on a high P/E ratio over the long term (‘the value effect’)…but in the short term, and especially in bull market runs, high P/E ‘glamour’ stocks have the ability to outperform low P/E ‘value’ stocks.
Where the P/E falls down
Despite being a byword for valuation, P/E has its detractors and many of them have a gripe about the use of earnings as an indicator.
1. Unlike other metrics such as cash flow and dividends, earnings can be subject to manipulation at company level, which means P/E can be distorted depending on how the company has accounted for particular items… The fact that accounting standards vary from country to country only adds to that problem. [In an effort to overcome such shortcomings,] Warren Buffett instead judges performance using “owner earnings“, which is defined as:
- net income
- plus non-cash charges of depreciation and amortization
- less capital expenditures and any additional working capital that might be needed…
Buffett argues that owner earnings reflect the true cash flow generation of a company.
If using earnings as a single indicator of a company’s profitability is risky then using P/E as an indicator for valuation is perilous without taking other metrics into consideration.
- A low P/E ratio could reflect market expectations that bad news is on the way – meaning that an apparently attractively priced stock could suddenly become a basket case.
- A high P/E ratio may indicate that the market has recognized the future earnings potential of a company and has priced it accordingly. If that company slips up, the investor is at risk of seeing the value tumble as market enthusiasm evaporates.
Therefore, without comparing the P/E of a company with, say, its history, its sector or the market as a whole, the ratio can be misinterpreted or rendered utterly meaningless. As a result, investors will often use it to measure a company against its peers and use the P/E of an overall sector as a benchmark.
2. The use of P/E…is particularly troublesome for investors in small cap stocks, and particularly those companies involved in natural resources. For stocks with little or no earnings history (yet possibly boasting substantial asset bases and/or other upside potential), the P/E is likely to be non-existent or otherwise useless. As a result, in the case of junior oil & gas and mining companies, P/E is usually ditched as a measure of value in favour of metrics such as net asset value, independent reports and the management’s track record.
3. A final weakness is that, by focusing on price/market capitalization, the P/E ignores the impact of debt and, for that reason, it is arguably inferior to measures like Enterprise Value (EV) to EBITDA or EV/Free Cash Flow. These measures are widely used by professional investors as – unlike the P/E – they are neutral to the capital structure of the company in question (i.e. they are not distorted by leverage).
The value of P/E
P/E offers investors a straightforward formula for valuing a stock and, as a result, it is frequently found in the stock-buying strategies of some of the world’s most successful investors. Critics have bemoaned its inability to take account of growth and the fact that, on its own, the P/E has limited meaning.
Conclusion
However, if investors take account of the known risks, the ratio offers an important valuation and bench-marking tool.”
(*The author’s views and conclusions are unaltered and no personal comments have been included to maintain the integrity of the original article. Furthermore, the views, conclusions and any recommendations offered in this article are not to be construed as an endorsement of such by the editor.)
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