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Those holding Office Depot (NASDAQ:ODP) shares must be pleased that the share price has rebounded 30% in the last thirty days. But unfortunately, the stock is still down by 19% over a quarter. But shareholders may not all be feeling jubilant, since the share price is still down 48% in the last year.
All else being equal, a sharp share price increase should make a stock less attractive to potential investors. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). So some would prefer to hold off buying when there is a lot of optimism towards a stock. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business 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.
See our latest analysis for Office Depot
How Does Office Depot's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?
We can tell from its P/E ratio of 29.47 that there is some investor optimism about Office Depot. You can see in the image below that the average P/E (15.3) for companies in the specialty retail industry is lower than Office Depot's P/E.
Office Depot's P/E tells us that market participants think the company will perform better than its industry peers, going forward. Shareholders are clearly optimistic, but the future is always uncertain. So further research is always essential. I often monitor director buying and selling.
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
When earnings fall, the 'E' decreases, over time. That means even if the current P/E is low, it will increase over time if the share price stays flat. Then, a higher P/E might scare off shareholders, pushing the share price down.
Office Depot saw earnings per share decrease by 70% last year. And over the longer term (3 years) earnings per share have decreased 56% annually. This could justify a low P/E.
A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank
One drawback of using a P/E ratio is that it considers market capitalization, but not the balance sheet. In other words, it does not consider any debt or cash that the company may have on the balance sheet. Theoretically, a business can improve its earnings (and produce a lower P/E in the future) by investing in growth. That means taking on debt (or spending its cash).
While growth expenditure doesn't always pay off, the point is that it is a good option to have; but one that the P/E ratio ignores.