While Stabilus SE (ETR:STM) might not have the largest market cap around , it received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the XTRA over the last few months, increasing to €61.20 at one point, and dropping to the lows of €44.15. 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 Stabilus' current trading price of €44.15 reflective of the actual value of the small-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at Stabilus’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 Stabilus

What Is Stabilus Worth?

The share price seems sensible at the moment according to our price multiple model, where we compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. We’ve used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there’s not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock’s ratio of 14.84x is currently trading slightly below its industry peers’ ratio of 16.07x, which means if you buy Stabilus today, you’d be paying a reasonable price for it. And if you believe Stabilus should be trading in this range, then there isn’t much room for the share price to 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 Stabilus’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.

Can we expect growth from Stabilus?

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 80% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Stabilus. 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 STM’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 STM? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below the industry PE ratio?