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Fullwealth Construction Holdings (HKG:1034) shares have had a really impressive month, gaining 35%, after some slippage. But that will do little to salve the savage burn caused by the 90% share price decline, over the last year.
Assuming no other changes, a sharply higher share price makes a stock less attractive to potential buyers. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. The implication here is that deep value investors might steer clear when expectations of a company are too high. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.
Check out our latest analysis for Fullwealth Construction Holdings
How Does Fullwealth Construction Holdings's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?
Fullwealth Construction Holdings's P/E of 60.19 indicates some degree of optimism towards the stock. You can see in the image below that the average P/E (8.2) for companies in the construction industry is a lot lower than Fullwealth Construction Holdings's P/E.
Its relatively high P/E ratio indicates that Fullwealth Construction Holdings shareholders think it will perform better than other companies in its industry classification. Clearly the market expects growth, but it isn't guaranteed. 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
Generally speaking the rate of earnings growth has a profound impact on a company's P/E multiple. That's because companies that grow earnings per share quickly will rapidly increase the 'E' in the equation. Therefore, even if you pay a high multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become lower in the future. So while a stock may look expensive based on past earnings, it could be cheap based on future earnings.
Fullwealth Construction Holdings shrunk earnings per share by 53% over the last year.
Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet
One drawback of using a P/E ratio is that it considers market capitalization, but not the balance sheet. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. In theory, a company can lower its future P/E ratio by using cash or debt to invest in growth.
Such expenditure might be good or bad, in the long term, but the point here is that the balance sheet is not reflected by this ratio.