While Krones AG (ETR:KRN) might not be the most widely known stock at the moment, it saw significant share price movement during recent months on the XTRA, rising to highs of €119 and falling to the lows of €102. 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 Krones' current trading price of €105 reflective of the actual value of the mid-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at Krones’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 Krones

Is Krones Still Cheap?

According to my price multiple model, which makes a comparison between the company's price-to-earnings ratio and the industry average, the stock price seems to be justfied. In this instance, I’ve used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stock’s cash flows. I find that Krones’s ratio of 15.7x is trading slightly above its industry peers’ ratio of 13.05x, which means if you buy Krones today, you’d be paying a relatively reasonable price for it. And if you believe Krones should be trading in this range, then there isn’t really any room for the share price grow beyond the levels of other industry peers over the long-term. Although, there may be an opportunity to buy in the future. This is because Krones’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 Krones generate?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. With profit expected to grow by 31% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Krones. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? It seems like the market has already priced in KRN’s positive outlook, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the track record of its management team. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at KRN? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below the industry PE ratio?