The goal of this article is to teach you how to use price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). We'll show how you can use DBS Group Holdings Ltd's (SGX:D05) P/E ratio to inform your assessment of the investment opportunity. DBS Group Holdings has a price to earnings ratio of 10.65, based on the last twelve months. That corresponds to an earnings yield of approximately 9.4%.

Check out our latest analysis for DBS Group Holdings

How Do You Calculate DBS Group Holdings's P/E Ratio?

The formula for P/E is:

Price to Earnings Ratio = Price per Share ÷ Earnings per Share (EPS)

Or for DBS Group Holdings:

P/E of 10.65 = SGD24.59 ÷ SGD2.31 (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2019.)

Is A High P/E Ratio Good?

A higher P/E ratio implies that investors pay a higher price for the earning power of the business. All else being equal, it's better to pay a low price -- but as Warren Buffett said, 'It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.'

How Does DBS Group Holdings's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

We can get an indication of market expectations by looking at the P/E ratio. You can see in the image below that the average P/E (8.9) for companies in the banks industry is lower than DBS Group Holdings's P/E.

Its relatively high P/E ratio indicates that DBS Group Holdings shareholders think it will perform better than other companies in its industry classification. The market is optimistic about the future, but that doesn't guarantee future growth. So investors should always consider the P/E ratio alongside other factors, such as whether company directors have been buying shares.

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. When earnings grow, the 'E' increases, over time. That means even if the current P/E is high, it will reduce over time if the share price stays flat. And as that P/E ratio drops, the company will look cheap, unless its share price increases.

It's great to see that DBS Group Holdings grew EPS by 24% in the last year. And its annual EPS growth rate over 5 years is 7.0%. With that performance, you might expect an above average P/E ratio.

Don't Forget: The P/E Does Not Account For Debt or Bank Deposits

It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. So it won't reflect the advantage of cash, or disadvantage of debt. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.