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What Is Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA's (ETR:FME) Share Price Doing?

Today we're going to take a look at the well-established Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (ETR:FME). The company's stock saw a double-digit share price rise of over 10% in the past couple of months on the XTRA. As a large-cap stock with high coverage by analysts, you could assume any recent changes in the company’s outlook is already priced into the stock. However, could the stock still be trading at a relatively cheap price? Let’s examine Fresenius Medical Care KGaA’s valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if there’s still a bargain opportunity.

See our latest analysis for Fresenius Medical Care KGaA

What's The Opportunity In Fresenius Medical Care KGaA?

The share price seems sensible at the moment according to my price multiple model, where I compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. I’ve used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there’s not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock’s ratio of 14.4x is currently trading slightly below its industry peers’ ratio of 15.64x, which means if you buy Fresenius Medical Care KGaA today, you’d be paying a reasonable price for it. And if you believe Fresenius Medical Care KGaA should be trading in this range, then there isn’t much room for the share price to grow beyond the levels of other industry peers over the long-term. Furthermore, Fresenius Medical Care KGaA’s share price also seems relatively stable compared to the rest of the market, as indicated by its low beta. This may mean it is less likely for the stock to fall lower from natural market volatility, which suggests less opportunities to buy moving forward.

Can we expect growth from Fresenius Medical Care KGaA?

earnings-and-revenue-growth
earnings-and-revenue-growth

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. With profit expected to grow by 58% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Fresenius Medical Care KGaA. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? FME’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the track record of its management team. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at FME? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below the industry PE ratio?

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Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on FME, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the optimistic forecast is encouraging for FME, which means it’s worth diving deeper into other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

Keep in mind, when it comes to analysing a stock it's worth noting the risks involved. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Fresenius Medical Care KGaA.

If you are no longer interested in Fresenius Medical Care KGaA, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

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