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This article is written for those who want to get better at using price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). To keep it practical, we'll show how Lonking Holdings Limited's (HKG:3339) P/E ratio could help you assess the value on offer. Looking at earnings over the last twelve months, Lonking Holdings has a P/E ratio of 8.63. That corresponds to an earnings yield of approximately 12%.
View our latest analysis for Lonking Holdings
How Do I Calculate Lonking Holdings's Price To Earnings Ratio?
The formula for price to earnings is:
Price to Earnings Ratio = Price per Share (in the reporting currency) ÷ Earnings per Share (EPS)
Or for Lonking Holdings:
P/E of 8.63 = CN¥2.31 (Note: this is the share price in the reporting currency, namely, CNY ) ÷ CN¥0.27 (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2018.)
Is A High P/E Ratio Good?
A higher P/E ratio means that buyers have to pay a higher price for each HK$1 the company has earned over the last year. That isn't a good or a bad thing on its own, but a high P/E means that buyers have a higher opinion of the business's prospects, relative to stocks with a lower P/E.
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. If earnings are growing quickly, then the 'E' in the equation will increase faster than it would otherwise. That means even if the current P/E is high, it will reduce over time if the share price stays flat. So while a stock may look expensive based on past earnings, it could be cheap based on future earnings.
Lonking Holdings increased earnings per share by 9.4% last year. And its annual EPS growth rate over 5 years is 19%.
Does Lonking Holdings Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?
The P/E ratio essentially measures market expectations of a company. If you look at the image below, you can see Lonking Holdings has a lower P/E than the average (9.8) in the machinery industry classification.
Lonking Holdings's P/E tells us that market participants think it will not fare as well as its peers in the same industry. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. It is arguably worth checking if insiders are buying shares, because that might imply they believe the stock is undervalued.
Don't Forget: The P/E Does Not Account For Debt or Bank Deposits
The 'Price' in P/E reflects the market capitalization of the company. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. The exact same company would hypothetically deserve a higher P/E ratio if it had a strong balance sheet, than if it had a weak one with lots of debt, because a cashed up company can spend on growth.