Yahoo Finance Is Integrated Research Limited’s (ASX:IRI) PE Ratio A Signal To Buy For Investors?
Integrated Research Limited (ASX:IRI) is currently trading at a trailing P/E of 26.7x, which is lower than the industry average of 28.7x. While this makes IRI appear like a great stock to buy, you might change your mind after I explain the assumptions behind the P/E ratio. Today, I will deconstruct the P/E ratio and highlight what you need to be careful of when using the P/E ratio. View our latest analysis for Integrated Research
Breaking down the P/E ratio
A common ratio used for relative valuation is the P/E ratio. 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 IRI
Price-Earnings Ratio = Price per share ÷ Earnings per share
IRI Price-Earnings Ratio = A$3.13 ÷ A$0.117 = 26.7x
On its own, the P/E ratio doesn’t tell you much; however, it becomes extremely useful when you compare it with other similar companies. We preferably want to compare the stock’s P/E ratio to the average of companies that have similar features to IRI, such as capital structure and profitability. A common peer group is companies that exist in the same industry, which is what I use. IRI’s P/E of 26.7x is lower than its industry peers (28.7x), which implies that each dollar of IRI’s earnings is being undervalued by investors. Therefore, according to this analysis, IRI is an under-priced stock.
A few caveats
Before you jump to the conclusion that IRI is the perfect buying opportunity, it is important to realise that our conclusion rests on two assertions. Firstly, our peer group contains companies that are similar to IRI. If this isn’t the case, the difference in P/E could be due to other factors. For example, if you are comparing lower risk firms with IRI, then its P/E would naturally be lower than its peers, as investors would value those with lower risk at a higher price. The second assumption that must hold true is that the stocks we are comparing IRI to are fairly valued by the market. If this does not hold true, IRI’s lower P/E ratio may be because firms in our peer group are overvalued by the market.
What this means for you:
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 IRI 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. Remember that basing your investment decision off one metric alone is certainly not sufficient. There are many things I have not taken into account in this article and the PE ratio is very one-dimensional. If you have not done so already, I highly recommend you to complete your research by taking a look at the following:
Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for IRI’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for IRI’s outlook.
Past Track Record: Has IRI been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of IRI’s historicals for more clarity.
Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.
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.
