Yahoo Finance Is Now The Time To Look At Buying Mitchells & Butlers plc (LON:MAB)?
Mitchells & Butlers plc (LON:MAB), is not the largest company out there, but it received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the LSE over the last few months, increasing to UK£1.95 at one point, and dropping to the lows of UK£1.02. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Mitchells & Butlers' current trading price of UK£1.08 reflective of the actual value of the small-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at Mitchells & Butlers’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.
See our latest analysis for Mitchells & Butlers
Is Mitchells & Butlers Still Cheap?
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 4.41x is currently trading slightly below its industry peers’ ratio of 9.25x, which means if you buy Mitchells & Butlers today, you’d be paying a decent price for it. And if you believe that Mitchells & Butlers should be trading at this level in the long run, then there’s not much of an upside to gain over and above other industry peers. Although, there may be an opportunity to buy in the future. This is because Mitchells & Butlers’s beta (a measure of share price volatility) is high, meaning its price movements will be exaggerated relative to the rest of the market. If the market is bearish, the company’s shares will likely fall by more than the rest of the market, providing a prime buying opportunity.
What kind of growth will Mitchells & Butlers generate?
Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company's future expectations. However, with a relatively muted profit growth of 4.0% expected over the next couple of years, growth doesn’t seem like a key driver for a buy decision for Mitchells & Butlers, at least in the short term.
What This Means For You
Are you a shareholder? MAB’s 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 financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at MAB? Will you have enough conviction to buy should the price fluctuate below the industry PE ratio?
Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on MAB, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the positive growth outlook may mean it’s worth diving deeper into other factors in order to take advantage of the next price drop.
If you'd like to know more about Mitchells & Butlers as a business, it's important to be aware of any risks it's facing. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs (1 is concerning!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Mitchells & Butlers.
If you are no longer interested in Mitchells & Butlers, 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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