TSXV:NNA PE PEG Gauge Oct 24th 17
The P/E ratio is one of many ratios used in relative valuation. By comparing a stock’s price per share to its earnings per share, we are able to see how much investors are paying for each dollar of the company’s earnings.
P/E Calculation for NNA
Price-Earnings Ratio = Price per share ÷ Earnings per share
NNA Price-Earnings Ratio = 0.08 ÷ 0.088 = 0.9x
The P/E ratio isn’t a metric you view in isolation and only becomes useful when you compare it against other similar companies. We want to compare the stock’s P/E ratio to the average of companies that have similar characteristics as NNA, such as size and country of operation. One way of gathering a peer group is to use firms in the same industry, which is what I’ll do. Since NNA’s P/E of 0.9x is lower than its industry peers (11x), it means that investors are paying less than they should for each dollar of NNA’s earnings. Therefore, according to this analysis, NNA is an under-priced stock.
Assumptions to watch out for
Before you jump to the conclusion that NNA is the perfect buying opportunity, it is important to realise that our conclusion rests on two assertions. The first is that our “similar companies” are actually similar to NNA, or else the difference in P/E might be a result of other factors. For example, if you compared lower risk firms with NNA, then investors would naturally value it at a lower price since it is a riskier investment. The second assumption that must hold true is that the stocks we are comparing NNA to are fairly valued by the market. If this is violated, NNA’s P/E may be lower than its peers as they are actually overvalued by investors.
What this means for you:
Are you a shareholder? If your personal research into the stock confirms what the P/E ratio is telling you, it might be a good time to add more of NNA to your portfolio. But keep in mind that the usefulness of relative valuation depends on whether you are comfortable with making the assumptions I mentioned above.
Are you a potential investor? If you are considering investing in NNA, looking at the PE ratio on its own is not enough to make a well-informed decision. You will benefit from looking at additional analysis and considering its intrinsic valuation along with other relative valuation metrics like PEG and EV/Sales.
PE is one aspect of your portfolio construction to consider when holding or entering into a stock. But it is certainly not the only factor. Take a look at our most recent infographic report on New Nadina Explorations for a more in-depth analysis of the stock to help you make a well-informed investment decision. Since we know a limitation of PE is it doesn’t properly account for growth, you can use our free platform to see my list of stocks with a high growth potential and see if their PE is still reasonable.
To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned.