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The Esprinet (BIT:PRT) share price has done well in the last month, posting a gain of 30%. The bad news is that even after that recovery shareholders are still underwater by about 3.8% for the full year.
All else being equal, a sharp share price increase should make a stock less attractive to potential investors. 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. So some would prefer to hold off buying when there is a lot of optimism towards a stock. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E implies that investors have high expectations of what a company can achieve compared to a company with a low P/E ratio.
See our latest analysis for Esprinet
How Does Esprinet's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?
Esprinet's P/E is 12.54. As you can see below Esprinet has a P/E ratio that is fairly close for the average for the electronic industry, which is 13.1.
That indicates that the market expects Esprinet will perform roughly in line with other companies in its industry. The company could surprise by performing better than average, in the future. I would further inform my view by checking insider buying and selling., among other things.
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
If earnings fall then in the future the 'E' will be lower. That means unless the share price falls, the P/E will increase in a few years. So while a stock may look cheap based on past earnings, it could be expensive based on future earnings.
Esprinet shrunk earnings per share by 41% over the last year. And it has shrunk its earnings per share by 10% per year over the last five years. This could justify a pessimistic P/E.
Don't Forget: The P/E Does Not Account For Debt or Bank Deposits
Don't forget that the P/E ratio considers market capitalization. In other words, it does not consider any debt or cash that the company may have on the balance sheet. 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.
Esprinet's Balance Sheet
Net debt totals 54% of Esprinet's market cap. This is enough debt that you'd have to make some adjustments before using the P/E ratio to compare it to a company with net cash.
The Verdict On Esprinet's P/E Ratio
Esprinet has a P/E of 12.5. That's below the average in the IT market, which is 16.9. The P/E reflects market pessimism that probably arises from the lack of recent EPS growth, paired with significant leverage. What we know for sure is that investors have become more excited about Esprinet recently, since they have pushed its P/E ratio from 9.6 to 12.5 over the last month. If you like to buy stocks that have recently impressed the market, then this one might be a candidate; but if you prefer to invest when there is 'blood in the streets', then you may feel the opportunity has passed.