Yahoo Finance What Is Ameriprise Financial's (NYSE:AMP) P/E Ratio After Its Share Price Rocketed?
Those holding Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) shares must be pleased that the share price has rebounded 30% in the last thirty days. But unfortunately, the stock is still down by 29% over a quarter. But shareholders may not all be feeling jubilant, since the share price is still down 15% 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). The implication here is that deep value investors might steer clear when expectations of a company are too high. 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.
View our latest analysis for Ameriprise Financial
Does Ameriprise Financial Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?
Ameriprise Financial's P/E of 8.53 indicates relatively low sentiment towards the stock. If you look at the image below, you can see Ameriprise Financial has a lower P/E than the average (34.9) in the capital markets industry classification.
Its relatively low P/E ratio indicates that Ameriprise Financial shareholders think it will struggle to do as well as other companies in its industry classification. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. You should delve deeper. I like to check if company insiders have been buying or selling.
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
Earnings growth rates have a big influence on P/E ratios. Earnings growth means that in the future the 'E' will be higher. That means unless the share price increases, the P/E will reduce in a few years. Then, a lower P/E should attract more buyers, pushing the share price up.
Ameriprise Financial saw earnings per share decrease by 2.0% last year. But it has grown its earnings per share by 11% per year over the last five years.
A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank
The 'Price' in P/E reflects the market capitalization of the company. So it won't reflect the advantage of cash, or disadvantage of debt. 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).
Spending on growth might be good or bad a few years later, but the point is that the P/E ratio does not account for the option (or lack thereof).
Is Debt Impacting Ameriprise Financial's P/E?
Ameriprise Financial's net debt is 0.03% of its market cap. So it doesn't have as many options as it would with net cash, but its debt would not have much of an impact on its P/E ratio.
The Verdict On Ameriprise Financial's P/E Ratio
Ameriprise Financial trades on a P/E ratio of 8.5, which is below the US market average of 14.0. With only modest debt, it's likely the lack of EPS growth at least partially explains the pessimism implied by the P/E ratio. What we know for sure is that investors are becoming less uncomfortable about Ameriprise Financial's prospects, since they have pushed its P/E ratio from 6.5 to 8.5 over the last month. If you like to buy stocks that could be turnaround opportunities, then this one might be a candidate; but if you're more sensitive to price, then you may feel the opportunity has passed.
Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. If it is underestimating a company, investors can make money by buying and holding the shares until the market corrects itself. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with modest (or no) debt, trading on a P/E below 20.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
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