When close to half the companies in Hong Kong have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 11x, you may consider Sundart Holdings Limited (HKG:1568) as a highly attractive investment with its 3x P/E ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/E.
Sundart Holdings has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing earnings at a solid pace. It might be that many expect the respectable earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.
Check out our latest analysis for Sundart Holdings
Is There Any Growth For Sundart Holdings?
In order to justify its P/E ratio, Sundart Holdings would need to produce anemic growth that's substantially trailing the market.
Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 26% last year. Despite this strong recent growth, it's still struggling to catch up as its three-year EPS frustratingly shrank by 15% overall. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of earnings growth.
Weighing that medium-term earnings trajectory against the broader market's one-year forecast for expansion of 19% shows it's an unpleasant look.
In light of this, it's understandable that Sundart Holdings' P/E would sit below the majority of other companies. However, we think shrinking earnings are unlikely to lead to a stable P/E over the longer term, which could set up shareholders for future disappointment. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as recent earnings trends are already weighing down the shares.
The Final Word
Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.
As we suspected, our examination of Sundart Holdings revealed its shrinking earnings over the medium-term are contributing to its low P/E, given the market is set to grow. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.
Plus, you should also learn about this 1 warning sign we've spotted with Sundart Holdings.
Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Sundart Holdings. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.
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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.