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While Lifestyle Communities Limited (ASX:LIC) might not be the most widely known stock at the moment, it saw significant share price movement during recent months on the ASX, rising to highs of AU$21.66 and falling to the lows of AU$16.10. 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 Lifestyle Communities' current trading price of AU$16.90 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 Lifestyle Communities’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.
View our latest analysis for Lifestyle Communities
Is Lifestyle Communities 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. I’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 16.88x is currently trading slightly above its industry peers’ ratio of 15.42x, which means if you buy Lifestyle Communities today, you’d be paying a relatively reasonable price for it. And if you believe Lifestyle Communities 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. In addition to this, it seems like Lifestyle Communities’s share price is quite stable, which could mean there may be less chances to buy low in the future now that it’s trading around the price multiples of other industry peers. This is because the stock is less volatile than the wider market given its low beta.
Can we expect growth from Lifestyle Communities?
Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. 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. Lifestyle Communities' earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 47%, indicating a highly optimistic future ahead. This should lead to more robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.
What this means for you:
Are you a shareholder? It seems like the market has already priced in LIC’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 financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at LIC? Will you have enough conviction to buy should the price fluctuate below the industry PE ratio?