In This Article:
Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Netwealth Group (ASX:NWL) share price has dived 33% in the last thirty days. That drop has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 34% in that time.
Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. 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, on certain occasions, long term focussed investors try to take advantage of pessimistic expectations to buy shares at a better price. 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.
View our latest analysis for Netwealth Group
Does Netwealth Group Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?
Netwealth Group's P/E of 32.93 indicates some degree of optimism towards the stock. You can see in the image below that the average P/E (18.8) for companies in the capital markets industry is lower than Netwealth Group's P/E.
Its relatively high P/E ratio indicates that Netwealth Group shareholders think it will perform better than other companies in its industry classification. The market is optimistic about the future, but that doesn't guarantee future growth. So investors should always consider the P/E ratio alongside other factors, such as whether company directors have been buying shares.
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
Earnings growth rates have a big influence on P/E ratios. When earnings grow, the 'E' increases, over time. Therefore, even if you pay a high multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become lower in the future. So while a stock may look expensive based on past earnings, it could be cheap based on future earnings.
Notably, Netwealth Group grew EPS by a whopping 30% in the last year. And it has bolstered its earnings per share by 44% per year over the last five years. So we'd generally expect it to have a relatively high P/E ratio.
Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet
It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. In other words, it does not consider any debt or cash that the company may have on the balance sheet. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.