Yahoo Finance How Does Medicover's (STO:MCOV B) P/E Compare To Its Industry, After The Share Price Drop?
To the annoyance of some shareholders, Medicover (STO:MCOV B) shares are down a considerable 32% in the last month. Indeed, the recent drop has reduced the annual gain to a relatively sedate 2.8% over the last twelve months.
Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E implies that investors have high expectations of what a company can achieve compared to a company with a low P/E ratio.
Check out our latest analysis for Medicover
Does Medicover Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?
We can tell from its P/E ratio of 44.34 that there is some investor optimism about Medicover. The image below shows that Medicover has a higher P/E than the average (14.8) P/E for companies in the healthcare industry.
Medicover's P/E tells us that market participants think the company will perform better than its industry peers, going forward. The market is optimistic about the future, but that doesn't guarantee future growth. So investors should delve deeper. I like to check if company insiders have been buying or selling.
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
Probably the most important factor in determining what P/E a company trades on is the earnings growth. Earnings growth means that in the future the 'E' will be higher. Therefore, even if you pay a high multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become lower in the future. And as that P/E ratio drops, the company will look cheap, unless its share price increases.
Medicover saw earnings per share decrease by 8.5% last year. But it has grown its earnings per share by 55% per year over the last three years. And over the longer term (5 years) earnings per share have decreased 5.8% annually. So we might expect a relatively low P/E.
A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank
It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. In other words, it does not consider any debt or cash that the company may have on the balance sheet. Theoretically, a business can improve its earnings (and produce a lower P/E in the future) by investing in growth. That means taking on debt (or spending its cash).
Such spending might be good or bad, overall, but the key point here is that you need to look at debt to understand the P/E ratio in context.
So What Does Medicover's Balance Sheet Tell Us?
Net debt totals 24% of Medicover's market cap. This could bring some additional risk, and reduce the number of investment options for management; worth remembering if you compare its P/E to businesses without debt.
The Bottom Line On Medicover's P/E Ratio
Medicover has a P/E of 44.3. That's significantly higher than the average in its market, which is 13.9. With some debt but no EPS growth last year, the market has high expectations of future profits. What can be absolutely certain is that the market has become significantly less optimistic about Medicover over the last month, with the P/E ratio falling from 64.9 back then to 44.3 today. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for a contrarian, it may signal opportunity.
When the market is wrong about a stock, it gives savvy investors an opportunity. People often underestimate remarkable growth -- so investors can make money when fast growth is not fully appreciated. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.
But note: Medicover may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio below 20).
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
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