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This article is written for those who want to get better at using price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). We'll apply a basic P/E ratio analysis to Globe Life Inc.'s (NYSE:GL), to help you decide if the stock is worth further research. What is Globe Life's P/E ratio? Well, based on the last twelve months it is 15.56. In other words, at today's prices, investors are paying $15.56 for every $1 in prior year profit.
View our latest analysis for Globe Life
How Do I Calculate Globe Life's Price To Earnings Ratio?
The formula for price to earnings is:
Price to Earnings Ratio = Price per Share ÷ Earnings per Share (EPS)
Or for Globe Life:
P/E of 15.56 = USD104.45 ÷ USD6.71 (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2019.)
Is A High P/E Ratio Good?
A higher P/E ratio means that investors are paying a higher price for each USD1 of company earnings. That is not a good or a bad thing per se, but a high P/E does imply buyers are optimistic about the future.
How Does Globe Life's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?
One good way to get a quick read on what market participants expect of a company is to look at its P/E ratio. We can see in the image below that the average P/E (17.0) for companies in the insurance industry is higher than Globe Life's P/E.
Globe Life's P/E tells us that market participants think it will not fare as well as its peers in the same industry. Since the market seems unimpressed with Globe Life, it's quite possible it could surprise on the upside. If you consider the stock interesting, further research is recommended. For example, I often monitor director buying and selling.
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. Earnings growth means that in the future the 'E' will be higher. Therefore, even if you pay a high multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become lower in the future. And as that P/E ratio drops, the company will look cheap, unless its share price increases.
Globe Life's earnings per share fell by 51% in the last twelve months. But it has grown its earnings per share by 11% per year over the last five years.
A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank
The 'Price' in P/E reflects the market capitalization of the company. 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.
Such spending might be good or bad, overall, but the key point here is that you need to look at debt to understand the P/E ratio in context.