With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 7x COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited (HKG:1199) may be sending bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in Hong Kong have P/E ratios greater than 10x and even P/E's higher than 20x are not unusual. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.
Recent times have been advantageous for COSCO SHIPPING Ports as its earnings have been rising faster than most other companies. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think this strong earnings performance might be less impressive moving forward. If not, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.
See our latest analysis for COSCO SHIPPING Ports
Does Growth Match The Low P/E?
COSCO SHIPPING Ports' P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the market.
Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 9.5% gain to the company's bottom line. Ultimately though, it couldn't turn around the poor performance of the prior period, with EPS shrinking 24% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of earnings growth.
Shifting to the future, estimates from the five analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 12% over the next year. With the market predicted to deliver 23% growth , the company is positioned for a weaker earnings result.
In light of this, it's understandable that COSCO SHIPPING Ports' P/E sits below the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting to see limited future growth and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.
The Final Word
Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-earnings ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.
As we suspected, our examination of COSCO SHIPPING Ports' analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior earnings outlook is contributing to its low P/E. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.
You always need to take note of risks, for example - COSCO SHIPPING Ports has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.
If P/E ratios interest you, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.
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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.