Yahoo Finance What Is CONMED's (NYSE:CNMD) P/E Ratio After Its Share Price Tanked?
To the annoyance of some shareholders, CONMED (NYSE:CNMD) shares are down a considerable 54% in the last month. That drop has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 39% in that time.
All else being equal, a share price drop should make a stock more attractive to potential investors. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. So, on certain occasions, long term focussed investors try to take advantage of pessimistic expectations to buy shares at a better price. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock 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 CONMED
Does CONMED Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?
We can tell from its P/E ratio of 48.49 that there is some investor optimism about CONMED. The image below shows that CONMED has a higher P/E than the average (35.7) P/E for companies in the medical equipment industry.
CONMED'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
Probably the most important factor in determining what P/E a company trades on is the earnings growth. If earnings are growing quickly, then the 'E' in the equation will increase faster than it would otherwise. Therefore, even if you pay a high multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become lower in the future. And as that P/E ratio drops, the company will look cheap, unless its share price increases.
CONMED saw earnings per share decrease by 30% last year. But over the longer term (3 years), earnings per share have increased by 24%. And it has shrunk its earnings per share by 3.0% per year over the last five years. This could justify a pessimistic P/E.
Don't Forget: The P/E Does Not Account For Debt or Bank Deposits
The 'Price' in P/E reflects the market capitalization of the company. Thus, the metric does not reflect cash or debt held by the company. 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).
Such spending might be good or bad, overall, but the key point here is that you need to look at debt to understand the P/E ratio in context.
Is Debt Impacting CONMED's P/E?
Net debt totals 53% of CONMED's market cap. This is enough debt that you'd have to make some adjustments before using the P/E ratio to compare it to a company with net cash.
The Verdict On CONMED's P/E Ratio
CONMED's P/E is 48.5 which is way above average (12.2) in its market. With meaningful debt and a lack of recent earnings growth, the market has high expectations that the business will earn more in the future. What can be absolutely certain is that the market has become significantly less optimistic about CONMED over the last month, with the P/E ratio falling from 104.3 back then to 48.5 today. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for a contrarian, it may signal opportunity.
Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. As value investor Benjamin Graham famously said, 'In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.
But note: CONMED may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio 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.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
