Guangdong Kanghua Healthcare Co., Ltd. (HKG:3689) shares have continued their recent momentum with a 28% gain in the last month alone. Looking back a bit further, it's encouraging to see the stock is up 71% in the last year.
In spite of the firm bounce in price, given about half the companies in Hong Kong have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 10x, you may still consider Guangdong Kanghua Healthcare as an attractive investment with its 6.6x P/E ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/E.
Recent times have been quite advantageous for Guangdong Kanghua Healthcare as its earnings have been rising very briskly. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think this strong earnings growth might actually underperform the broader market in the near future. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.
View our latest analysis for Guangdong Kanghua Healthcare
Is There Any Growth For Guangdong Kanghua Healthcare?
Guangdong Kanghua Healthcare's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the market.
If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 103%. Although, its longer-term performance hasn't been as strong with three-year EPS growth being relatively non-existent overall. So it appears to us that the company has had a mixed result in terms of growing earnings over that time.
Comparing that to the market, which is predicted to deliver 21% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is weaker based on recent medium-term annualised earnings results.
In light of this, it's understandable that Guangdong Kanghua Healthcare's P/E sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on to something they believe will continue to trail the bourse.
The Final Word
Guangdong Kanghua Healthcare's stock might have been given a solid boost, but its P/E certainly hasn't reached any great heights. Using the price-to-earnings ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.
We've established that Guangdong Kanghua Healthcare maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its recent three-year growth being lower than the wider market forecast, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. If recent medium-term earnings trends continue, it's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.
A lot of potential risks can sit within a company's balance sheet. Our free balance sheet analysis for Guangdong Kanghua Healthcare with six simple checks will allow you to discover any risks that could be an issue.
You might be able to find a better investment than Guangdong Kanghua Healthcare. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.